Strange Tidings
by The Last Founder
Summary: As the so-called Master of Death, Harry Potter always had kinds of lives that he enjoyed living, and those that he didn't. He loved being born into royalty, or born into large families, mostly born into excitement. Some of his lives were boring, some exciting, some horrific. This one is... odd. This life is... strange, and it is finally over. (Post Epilogue Added)
1. Strange Tidings

**Part of a Master of Death series on my Profile called Master of Nothing, description on there**

* * *

**Life 58: Strange Tidings**

* * *

**Most of my lives, I'm born and raised.**

I'm taught and educated in the rules of the world that is now mine.

Normally I get a few years before I'm thrown into Hell.

This life, I'm in the middle of a fucking tornado, and I haven't been in this life more than ten minutes.

_"Fuck my lives."_

Behind me stood a forest, of which I somehow knew I had walked from, as I approached the seaside cliff, walking even closer to the doomsday storm.

Why I was, seemed to be beyond the hill, shining down on me with a protective gaze, or perhaps malice.

I was confused as hell, and I was intimidated by a lighthouse… Though, that damn tornado still managed to beat it in waves.

Said lighthouse stood wearily, lighting up the darkness as a disastrous tornado, the likes of which only Lovecraft could have imagined, raged closer and closer to me, and the mainland.

I had a bad feeling about this… But I also had some bad questions about this all…

Rain pelted down like glass from the sky, the weight of it pulling me down towards the Earth, as I tried to move farther from what seemed to be certain death.

I knew Death though, and I knew they wouldn't throw me into this life only to die immediately.

They already said that it took way too much work to put me here, so they wouldn't waste my time or theirs.

_"Where am I? What's even happening?"_ I thought to myself, as I trudged farther through the storm, my hands covering my face as the rain fell like bullets.

Unfortunately, before I could reach shelter, the tornado overtook the land, the eye opening to surround me fully.

Out of nowhere, a fishing boat flew through the air with a rage, only to crash into my body.

It almost felt like Uncle Vernon had come for revenge, as I swear that looked like his old fishing tug, the one he'd bought one summer to teach Dudley to fish, and then abandoned on the water.

Despite all I had done in my lives, a damn boat took me out, while I stood still cursing my long dead uncle.

**I hate boats.**

* * *

**"Max? Ms. Caulfield, are you okay?"** A calming voice called out, awakening me from my sleep.

I was familiar with this sensation however, as my first rest after a new life often left me drained.

I had only learned after meeting Death, that my lives were a product of both them and I fusing briefly to resurrect me.

Unfortunately, I had no choice in this.

Death said I needed to be everyone that they made me, that I was needed in every life I lived… I didn't believe Ariana Dumbledore had needed me…

_"Wait… Miss?"_ I thought to myself, as I pushed myself up from my rest. I was splayed out on a wooden desk, a prestigious classroom greeting my sight, as I saw a class full of snobbish looking teenagers looking at me expectantly.

"Um… I'm good, I guess…" I muttered out, as I placed a hand to my forehead for support. Sadly, this only enforced what he had feared.

_"Welp, I'm female again… Of course this had to be #58… I went from a Spanish Adventurer to a teenage girl… What a step up…"_

"Don't lie to me Maxine, I see something's bothering you. Maybe Nurse Tella could help you?" The teacher, a tanned young man suggested from the other side of the room, a concerned look on his face.

Despite his expression, I had a feeling something was up with him.

Also, I've been named Henrietta and Owen before… Both terrible names in their own, but somehow, Maxine is even worse…

"I think Max is just a bit nervous Mr. Jefferson, perhaps she shouldn't be a part of the contest?" A haughty blonde girl suggested to the teacher, the gleam in her eyes and grin made it obvious she didn't like whatever girl I had become.

_"Great, first day in this life, and I already have enemies."_

"I'm sure Max is fine, aren't you Max?" Jefferson asked me, a small smile on his face as he stepped closer to me. Something didn't seem right with him, but I nodded as I gathered my stuff into what seemed to be my messenger bag.

"I- I think I'm going to get some water Mr. Jefferson." I said as calmly as I could, as I started running a list in my mind of everything I had to do.

Thankfully, I could feel the magic running through my veins, confirming I was a witch. Strangely, the magic felt a bit different, but fortunately not as wicked as my magic was when I was Jon.

The rituals had been hellish…

Jefferson nodded with a smile as he gestured to the door, and I took full advantage of his courtesy.

I felt eyes on me before I left, and saw a depressed looking girl watch me leave with a look that spoke of lonely abandonment.

A voice within me told me her name was Kate, and that she roomed near me, and that I was supposed to be her friend.

Apparently this was a boarding school.

_"Good to know." _I thought as I walked out of the class, leaving behind the snobs and that weird ass teacher.

First thing's first, I needed to see myself, and get my fucking head on straight.

**_"Priorities, you know?"_**

* * *

**"I'm a goddamn Hipster…"** I growled out as I looked at the nerdy girl in the mirror.

Seems I'm kind of an antisocial bitch as well, considering the absence of pictures of my friends in the bag I carried. If I even had friends that is...

I wasn't too upset with the photography thing, as I've been a painter and scribe in Rome, so many lives ago.

I had grown an appreciation for the Arts, but not for isolation.

_"Need to fix that first."_ I thought as I tried to access Max's memories, which wasn't too much of a challenge.

Surprisingly, the memories came easier than they did in most lives, as Parker's memories had been extremely hard to get.

_"Okay… I have friends, that's good I guess."_ I thought, as I remembered the boy Warren, who apparently had a crush on me. (At least Max had a suspicion.)

Unfortunately for the kid, I wasn't into crossing sabers, even if I didn't have one in this world.

That girl though, Kate something or other, she had potential, and she was nice, but sad from what Max remembered.

There was another girl in Max's mind, but apparently they hadn't spoken in years.

Chloe Price was her name.

I should probably track her down, but I had a feeling I'd see her before I could even try.

**Welp, I was right.**

* * *

**While I was resting in the corner of the bathroom,** trying to get a full grasp on Max's memories and the odd magic that filled my new, unfortunately young body, the bathroom door banged open with a loud crash.

Hiding in the corner of the room, and channeling energy into my pupils, I saw a blond guy in a letterman's jacket stomp into the bathroom in a daze. I knew enough about drugs to know he was on something, and I swear something was wrong with him.

I couldn't tell properly without a wand, but I knew trauma when I saw it.

The oh so many wars had taught me enough.

He leaned against one of the sinks, very similar to how I been earlier, starting to talk to himself.

"It's cool Nathan… Don't stress. You're okay bro, just count to three… " He muttered to himself with heavy breaths, as I saw the stress eating at him. Something was bugging this kid a lot.

If I didn't have memories telling me that he hated me, I would have tried comforting him.

He reminded me of Draco slightly, and I had come to regret not saving the kid from his father's influence.

From what I knew of Nathan Prescott, he seemed way too similar.

Before I could intervene though, a punkish girl charged into the bathroom, her eyes narrowing at the sight of him.

Apparently she didn't like him.

Max didn't like him either, at least from what I had gathered from her mind.

I was in charge now though, and I say the guy deserved a chance. When he stopped being a dick, that is.

Nathan looked at the girl then, the anger burning in his eyes suddenly, as I saw him tense up, a hand drifting to his waist in a way too familiar fashion..

"So, what do you want?" He growled out, as he seemed to rest his hand on something out of sight.

That stance reminded me way too much of when I knew Jacob.

Nathan Prescott had a gun.

_"I may have to intervene anyway…"_

The two began talking then, as the girl began insulting him and trying to rile him up, as she apparently was trying to buy drugs from him.

She seemed to not know that you don't threaten your dealer though…

Their exchange kept going with me watching carefully, until Nathan seemed to have enough, pulling his gun on her, backing her into the wall.

"You don't know who the fuck I am, or who you're messing around with!" He screamed out, as he tightened his grip on the pistol, pointing it at her stomach.

From analyzing the trajectory of the possible shot, I knew that a bullet from that angle would kill the girl.

The girl panicked then, as he grew more and more out of control, his hair standing on end.

"Where'd you get that? What are you doing? Come on, put that thing down!" She demanded of him, though it seemed to be more begging than she would have liked.

Something triggered within me then, as a voice that I was beginning to classify as Max's voice screamed inside my mind.

Apparently this girl was Chloe Price, Max's childhood friend. The one she had seemingly abandoned, yet she still didn't want dead.

Though what remained of Max was extremely afraid, I wasn't.

I had handled much more intimidating foes, and ones a lot more skilled with firearms than this kid.

Hell, I had fought and killed literal monsters before.

A kid with Daddy Issues was going to be easy.

Deciding that I had, had enough of this, I stepped from cover and aimed a hand at the idiot.

Intending on casting a wandless stunner at the boy, even I was surprised, as instead of the familiar red light, I saw the air start to distort around my hand.

My vision began to darken then, as everything around me began to fade into a dark blue.

**"What the-"**

* * *

**"Hell?"** I found myself asking aloud, shooting up to my feet, as a piercing headache consumed me.

My vision was shifting and dark, before focusing in an instant, seeing what was before me.

This was… impossible?

"While I would normally condemn you for your language, are you okay Max? You don't look so good." The teacher from before, Jefferson, asked of me with confused eyes.

Apparently Max didn't usually act like me.

Also, she didn't usually time travel.

I thought I was just a witch… but what a surprise.

I'm a Temporal Anomaly as well.

**_"Well, this'll be fun…"_**

* * *

**Just as before, **I had gotten Jefferson to excuse me, and headed back to the girl's bathroom.

Normally I would have stopped to think, maybe try and assimilate Maxine Caulfield into myself sooner, but she seemed to have a much stronger will than I expected for an awkward teenage girl.

She demanded we save Chloe, I didn't really disagree.

So, we went to the bathroom, twenty minutes before we had the last time.

After a bit of work, I had managed to achieve at least a bit of my natural magic, and managed a Muggle Notice-Me-Not.

Now, I waited in the first stall of the bathroom, already knowing that both Nathan and Chloe would check said stalls.

I didn't care, I just had to get my hands on Nathan, and ensure that Chloe didn't run into him.

Thankfully, I remembered how to apparate.

Sadly, I couldn't do it without making noise.

A wand did make a big difference.

I didn't mind the wait, finding enough stimulation in categorizing Max's memories and experiences, and growing to hate selfies.

"Max Caulfield, better get ready, we're switching to painting."

Before I could fight with the mental remnants of the girl, the boy that seemed even more troubled the second time around, charged into the bathroom.

Still unnoticed by anyone possible, I crept from the stall, not wanting him to work himself into even more of a rage, and grabbed the boy around the shoulders.

With a grunt of effort, I apparated the two of us from the bathroom.

Sadly, I didn't have a clue where to.

**_"Welp, this might be difficult."_**

* * *

**"W-where, what am I?!"** The boy screamed out, as the two of us found ourselves on a beach, conveniently on the same beach I had, had a vision of.

Thankfully, there wasn't a tornado this time, just an angry spoiled bastard.

"On a beach, near some woods. I don't really know to be honest." I said casually, as I tried to mimic my own speaking voice by instinct. The voice that I had often used to take charge, my action hero voice.

It sounded odd coming from 18-year old Max Caulfield, who I swear had not even gone through puberty yet, despite the impossibility of it.

Then again, I just time traveled without a Conduit.

This was a day of impossibilities, and it didn't seem to be ending.

Mr. Prescott didn't look too happy to see me, as he pulled his gun on me immediately.

I scoffed under my breath. Can't have that after all.

"You bitch! What did you do to me?!" He screamed, his eyes both angry and fearful, though he obviously tried to hide the latter. He failed at that.

"I teleported us. You were about to kill someone. I saved you from what would likely be life in prison, and a very painful one at that." I bluffed to him expertly, as even though I was in Max's body, I thankfully had all of my skills, especially my social skills.

My once father Ned had drilled diplomacy and politics into me, which came in handy way too often. Especially when I kidnapped people.

Nathan just looked in shock at me, as his grip on the gun loosened enough for me to pull it to me.

Using my prior knowledge, I began to disassemble the gun as soon as it reached my hands, letting the metal parts of it fall to the sand below.

Within a minute, Nathan had nothing to hurt anyone, besides his mediocre strength.

"How did you… You crazy bitch!" He screamed out, as he charged at me.

Not wanting to bother, I pressed my palm to his forehead as soon as he got close enough, instantly knocking him out.

While I felt sympathy for the kid, I wasn't going to let him hurt me.

While he normally wouldn't be able to, I had just gotten this body. This new... weak... body.

I still had work to do to ensure my survival, which included exercise.

But first, I had to find a safe and isolated place to drop the guy off, and a temperamental girl to re-introduce myself to… well, the new Max to.

Before that though, I'm changing my fucking clothes.

This cutesy crap wasn't me, and it wouldn't be Max.

If anyone asked about it, I'd just blame the girl.

I mean, Chloe seems like a bad influence after all.

**_"Who am I to blame, if she 'corrupts' me?"_**

* * *

**Sadly, I didn't really know where Chloe lived.**

Max knew where she used to live, but with her having moved, and them not being in contact in years, it became difficult to find her.

Really, I didn't see her as a priority so much as a distraction.

Putting that aside for later, I decided to head to the dormitory, as that would probably tell me at least a bit of what I should be doing, or at least, should know.

"What classes do I even take?" I asked myself (Or what remained of Max, who now had become a quiet whisper in the back of my mind), as I flipped through the journal I'd found in her bag.

"This is the angstiest crap I've ever read, and I thought Felice's poetry was bad…" I muttered to myself judgmentally, as I flipped through the diary pages, skipping over pages where she'd just drawn or posted pictures she'd taken with her old camera.

"Jefferson is supercool and superchill." I read as annoyingly as possible, imagining the stars in her eyes Max must have had when writing this crap.

I swear I could vomit from the memories I had gotten. I remembered her writing this garbage.

"I need some air…" I breathed out in a huff, as I got out of her room as quickly as possible. The wall of pictures, the Ikea furniture, the freaking plant… "Yeah, I need to throw out a lot of stuff…"

Unfortunately, the blonde bitch from the classroom, Vicky or something, and her friends were sitting by the doors of the dorm, preventing me from leaving.

"Oh, this is going to go well." I thought to myself, as I saw the blonde lift her head, and look smugly at me with spite in her beady eyes. In another life, I would have found her attractive, in this one, she was just another distraction.

"Oh, look, it's Max Caulfield, the selfie ho of Blackwell. What a lame-" She began to say to me, but I just tuned her out. All I really caught was that she wasn't moving, and I really didn't want to get in a cat-fight on my first day of this life.

Any other day, I would, but not my first day. I still needed to regain my strength after all, and that would take time.

Which, I seemed to have…

"Whatever bitch…" I scoffed as I walked back to my dorm, leaving the stunned blonde and her pals behind.

I'd just apparate out, as I didn't feel up to throwing around any more stunners, my magic not even responding to my call, almost as if it had fallen asleep. Fortunately, I had learned to apparate without tapping into my magic.

Maybe it was a gift from Death, considering that I didn't even get to keep the Hallows, but maybe my soul had mutated or some weird crap.

I didn't think I would be figuring it out anytime soon, but I knew I couldn't afford to fight anyone right now.

Oddly enough though, those time powers of Max's were flying to my fingers whenever I reached for them… Almost eager to help…

There had to be a price to this… The Symbiote had taught me that great power came with a cost, and the seemingly limitless ability to rewind time, with seemingly no consequences, and no paradoxes to boot?

"Yeah, totally not going to bite me in the ass..." I muttered cynically, as I snapped my fingers, disappearing from the dorm and the school grounds all together.

**"Whole new town, hell, whole new world… This, I've got to see..."**


	2. Cold Hearts

**Life 58: Strange Tidings**

* * *

**2013**

That was the year I was now stuck in, America, once again.

Arcadia Bay, Oregon.

Old fishing town, mostly dried up with most of their youth not respecting its history, or leaving the town all together.

The town didn't really operate like most from what I've seen so far, as while Mayor Jonathan Cochran was currently leading the town, reelection was on the rise, and things just seemed to be getting worse as the days went by.

Didn't help that he was even worse than Fudge, and that seemed impossible all together.

But this town was something else…

As I observed more of the town, I was almost seeing reflections of my first life, and it almost seemed like I was seeing… things that shouldn't be there.

I kept getting… glimpses, visions, of that lighthouse, of storms, and of ice and fire.

I'm seeing omens everywhere, and I swear I can smell blood and brimstone when I wake up.

I had a feeling, and my feelings aren't often good.

I think I'm going to die, again,** even though it's only my second day here...**

* * *

**Nathan Prescott was an interesting person.**

I had kidnapped him yesterday, and was currently keeping him sedated with the Draught of Living Death, hidden inside an abandoned railway station that I'd found when exploring the countryside outside Arcadia Bay.

Unlike most of my lives, I fortunately had Magic, but the Wizarding World was… different.

Hogwarts didn't exist, which didn't surprise me too much (It had only existed in two of my lives), but some of it's people did.

Albus Dumbledore was an aged, but wise lawyer in this world, but oddly enough, still magical.

Apparently Magicals were almost tribal in this world, preferring small communities and Covens over civilization.

There was a Wizarding people, but not a world.

After finding Albus, I'd dug up some information on the man and the Magical world.

Apparently the Tale of the Brothers still existed, and the Hunt for the Deathly Hallows was still a thing for Magicals. Lucky me.

Acknowledging the fact that the world was far different from how I knew it, and I couldn't find a trace of Hermione Granger anywhere… I said fuck it, opened up to Dumbledore and admitted that I was the Master of Death.

He took it surprisingly well, but not so much when I mentioned that I didn't have the Hallows and that I was basically in a never ending cycle of lives, all more challenging than the last.

I told him this was life fifty-eight for me, and how I was two-thousand and twenty-eight years old... and eight months.

That threw him for a leap.

Not so much Next Great Adventure, more Not This Again.

To his credit, he shrugged it off surprisingly quick, and asked me how he could help me.

I had needed a wand and gold, and seeing as America's magical peoples had been eradicated, I needed him, as he would know Europe, hopefully.

In a complete reverse of what I'd expected of Dumbledore, any Dumbledore, he just scoffed at me and asked why I hadn't stolen myself a wand.

I admit, I almost had an aneurysm at the wrongness of the ever polite Headmaster telling me so casually to steal, but I had to remember that this was a very different world, and a very different Dumbledore.

He told me of how the Magical World had been divided since the 1200's, and had never united since then, separating into tribes.

The Solgon Tribe held a monopoly on wandworking in this world, being the only tribe with wandlore, and demanded literal goldmines for a single wand.

So, Dumbledore and I portkeyed to Germany, apparated into one of their camps at midnight, stole ourselves over thirty wands, and then set the camp ablaze.

I admit, I was starting to love Albus the Renegade, as he was known in this world.

He was a badass.

The fact that we split the wands and the profits didn't hurt.

To my surprise, however, we found my wand.

Not the Elder Wand, the useless stick that I had held for ten minutes in my first life, and never seen again.

MY wand, Holly and Phoenix Feather. Twelve Inches.

I thought I would never see it again, but there it was, blazing with warmth in my hand, almost singing to me with affection and love, almost like it remembered me.

I will admit, I almost cried when I felt that.

I hadn't had anything from my first life in years, not even an Owl, for I dreaded to even be reminded of all I'd lost with my damned Immortality.

Not that any owl was as intelligent as Hedwig was…

After Dumbledore and I had finished our business, he pointed me to a tribe of creatures that he had said were Harbingers of Hell, and the most vile beings he had ever known.

He said they were hidden in a Valley of Death, beneath the Sands of the Long Forgotten, locked away since the medieval ages by a terrible curse.

Of course, the Goblins were living in Nevada...

Dumbledore was always dramatic, that never changed thankfully.

I had smiled when he told me that, as I knew stealing from them would be easy, much easier than the first time.

_"A race of Goblins that were completely isolated and hadn't interacted with Wizards since 1389? Easy pickings for me."_

With my wand and spells, which I discovered didn't exist in this world, I just walked through the Goblin stronghold, which was a cave rather than a Bank. Not nearly as impressive, if I might say so.

I had cut down a Goblin that I recognized as Griphook almost immediately, and proceeded to sidestep their blades, AKs flying from my lips faster than they could run.

Unfortunately, Dumbledore's knowledge was out of touch, as the Goblins had stagnated without the Magical People, resulting in only this stronghold and only a single vault's worth of gold.

I took it all.

After all the shit I put up with as Harry Potter, and as Trelius, I had no mercy for the little bastards.

I grinned as I put down Ragnok, the supposed leader of the Goblins.

He sat in his little room hiding as I butchered his people.

_**"What a cowardly little wretch."**_

* * *

**I didn't really know what to think anymore.**

I'd been calm and even enjoying falling back into the instincts of my past lives, handling things that I knew how to handle, and even just getting to know the man that I had once considered a valued friend and mentor once again.

But… This was impossible, even for Magic.

It was snowing in Autumn...

It had started the night before, and had continued into early morning, and it still wasn't over.

We were snowed in, and it was affecting everyone on the campus, as both dormitories were isolated from the rest of the campus entirely, and everyone was getting a bit stir crazy.

I, a person that could apparate at will, and a whole lot more, wasn't worried in the slightest.

Shrugging in exhaustion, I headed to the shower room for the morning, still pleased by the turn of events in this world.

I always loved being female, the few times that I was, as it opened so, so many doors for my desire.

_"I'm still a man at heart, so what? Sue me."_

But man… were Max's friends annoying as hell.

That Warren guy wouldn't stop texting me the entire night and morning, asking how I was, whining that I hadn't met up with him yesterday (I'm supposed to do that?) and something about a flashdrive and apes.

Remembering that some cheerleader or something chick had it, no way was I going through the effort of getting it back.

I've been living eventful and important lives for the last fifty-seven lives, no way was I giving some guy my time, when all he was talking about was movies and… honestly I tuned him out after some time.

And no way was I involving myself in a bunch of teenage drama. Been there, done that, killed the dark lord.

Not fun, any time, any life.

I had more important things to do, like enjoy a hot shower.

**That was very important.**

* * *

**"Hey Kate, are you okay?"** I asked softly, as I walked up to the quiet girl, her gaze locked on herself in the mirror as I walked into the bathroom.

She didn't seem to notice me then, only staring at herself, until I stepped closer to her.

"I'm here. I've not been okay in a while Max. Not that you've bothered to ask…" Kate said in a way that seemed both sad and morose, but also angry and hurt. I felt something ache within me at her voice, as it brought back so many memories that I had suppressed, oh so long ago.

I knew pain, very well, and she smelt of vanilla and aged parchment...

I brushed a hand through my hair, which I'd cut to a shorter length than it had been, as I took a breath.

I still wasn't good with sad girls, it was why I ignored so many. God knows sadness had cut me in half much too often.

"Kate, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be your friend, and I've not been a very good one lately. I want to help." I said with conviction in my voice, as I put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

She shook at my touch, almost like I used to do as Harry.

I knew from Max's memories Kate wasn't abused, so I could only assume it was from what had happened…

The video, and all that had happened after that.

Kate Marsh had been drugged, that much was obvious from watching the video.

Shy church girl suddenly makes a video of her servicing strange men in public? Not a chance, unless someone used an Imperius, and I already checked, that spell didn't exist in this world.

I've technically invented it, and I can barely cast it. No worries from that end.

"Unless you can erase the memories of everyone in town, and erase the… video, from everyone, then no… You can't help me Max." Kate said with a cold strength to her voice, as she seemed to almost have a transformation as she turned to me. "By the way Max, do you still have my copy of "The October Country?"

The sudden change of conversation threw me for a spin, before I bounced back as I remembered the book that Max had borrowed from her, for some arty reason that I didn't really understand.

"Of course Kate, it's been great. Do you want it back?" I asked warmly, as I tried to help her in the only way I really could, besides well… My eyes flickered for a second, as I remembered the Lighthouse, the way my vision had burned as I turned back time…

_"There's no way that I could go back so far… But maybe…"_

Shaking the thought from my head, as I wouldn't know what to do if I even was able to go back, I just turned back to Kate.

"If you could Max. Can you please bring it back to my room this morning? I just need to take some notes." She asked of me in a low voice, almost as if she felt bad for asking for her own book back.

_"Baby girl..." _

"Of course Kate, it's your book after all." I said with a genuine smile, as I noticed from her face that she felt a little bit better by my being here, even if only a little.

_"Guess I'll have to keep bothering her..."_

As if noticing that I'd brought my shower supplies for the first time, Kate stiffened. "I see you're busy, I'll just leave…" She said quickly, almost making to leave before I stopped her.

"It's okay Kate, I'm just taking a quick shower. If you'll wait, we can go grab your book and… I don't know, hang out? Like we used to?" I asked her with a warm look, before heading to the nearest shower staff.

Kate looked like she wanted to argue with me, but she almost seemed to remember that we were trapped (Well, she was), so she just nodded as she stood aside obediently.

I had to fix that.

I placed my clothes down, different ones from the hipster fashion that Max wore, and much nicer and darker.

Just like I liked my clothes.

With no shame, I stripped down and began to shower with a hidden and lewd smirk.

I could almost feel Kate's eyes burning on my back.

_"Step one is complete."_ I thought to myself with pride, as I focused on cleaning my newly dyed hair out. Three more steps to go.

I was determined to make Kate's life wonderful after all I had heard of her, and from Max's memories, and I knew she was totally my type.

But, something kept bothering me…

Last night had been… weird.

I had blacked out right after getting back to Arcadia Bay, collapsing by the docks…

I had apparated as soon as I woke up, but this entire mess was screwing with me.

The dreams, the time travel, the… fucking snowstorm in Autumn…

This place, Arcadia Bay, had something to it, some kind of… energy, and it wasn't good.

The place was almost alive, and it was screaming in rage.

I was trying to remember what had happened, when I heard the bathroom door bang open.

"What's up, Kate?" The annoying bitchy voice I now knew as Victoria Chase said mockingly, as she apparently entered the bathroom. I heard other footsteps with her pair, so she's probably got her whore squad with her.

I could almost hear Kate's fear and anger bubble inside her, as she turned away from the new entries to the bathroom.

"School." She muttered out as she tried to meet Victoria's eyes, but couldn't.

I doubted that Victoria even knew I was in here, but I had focused my magic once more on my eyes, casting another Clear Sight spell.

Yep, the Queen Bitch herself had invaded our humble bathroom, and was gearing up to hurt the girl that I had declared was now my friend.

It certainly didn't hurt that Kate was adorable.

I could hear another girl laugh, some blonde girl with pigtails, Taylor or something like that. I honestly didn't care enough to know her name.

"That's it?"

"That video of you clubbing didn't look like homework…" Victoria said snidely, as she walked closer to Kate, getting up in her face as she tormented her.

Kate just looked away from the bully, as she pleaded her innocence as well as she could, her eyes tearing up.

"Victoria, that wasn't me…"

Her eyes were now even more sad and distressed than they were when I walked in.

They almost made me want to cry, and I hate crying...

"Don't be shy. I think it's awesome you set a tongue record on video…" Victoria mocked her, letting out the most annoying ass laugh I had ever heard, followed by her friends.

Pansy Parkinson had nothing on this bitch.

"You're going to be sorry someday." Kate responded, a fire in her voice that I, nor Max, had ever heard before.

While I was proud of her for standing up for herself, I knew I couldn't let Victoria or her little whores do this.

Stopping the water, and locking the bathroom door with a swipe of my left hand, I stepped out of the shower with all the power and strength of a raging Hungarian Horntail.

Well, one trapped in a nubile eighteen year old girl's naked body.

"She's going to be sorry today." I threatened, as I channeled just the slightest bit of magic into my voice, producing a tense and intimidating tone.

At least I hoped so.

Victoria didn't seem to understand the serious danger she was in, as despite my physical weakness, I had over two-thousand years of Magical Experience.

All it took was choosing a spell.

This stupid muggle bitch laughed at me.

I was thinking about Reducto...

"Wow Max, forget your clothes this morning?" Victoria mocked as she began searching her pockets for her cellphone, likely to take a picture of myself.

I had forgotten I was naked, but whatever.

I send an electric pulse through her phone, frying it from the inside, just for good measure.

"Wow Victoria, forgot your teeth this morning?" I asked in the same tone of voice, as I stepped closer to the girl, channeling my magic in the way Dumbledore had shown me.

Breath in, focus, breath out, focus.

Victoria almost looked confused by me then, before that shit eating grin came back.

However, I didn't let the bitch say a word, as I was good and charged.

With a speed that no regular human could achieve, I punched the bitch in the face, sending at least nine teeth flying in a cloud of blood.

_"Boom, head shot."_

Everyone but me in the room froze in shock, as Victoria dropped like a rock, knocked out by a single punch.

"What a little bitch…" I said with way too much enjoyment, as I remembered that she had brought her friends with her.

"You two, you're no longer friends with this whore. I will personally pay you to ignore everything that happened here, and her." I said with steel in my voice, as I walked to my stuff and pulled a stack of fifty dollar bills out for the both of them.

"Nothing gets spoken of in here, and if anyone asks why you two aren't hanging out with Queen Bitch over here, you say she isn't as cool as she thinks, and you noticed that. Okay?" I asked them both, as I held out the ill gotten gains to them both. They merely nodded in shock, before both took the money.

Before they could touch the door however, I walked right up behind them, and said in the most understandable and calm way I could.

"And if you ever mess with Kate again, I'll break both your legs and leave you in the woods for the wolves. Understand girls?" I demanded of them, as I placed a strong hand on the backs of both their necks, pressing my nails into their flesh.

They shook with fright, before blabbering all sorts of nonsense, but generally agreeing.

I let them go, unlocking the door in the process, and the girls were nearly falling over each other to escape, leaving their former leader behind.

I figured that after I left Kate, I would just obliviate the two, but enforce mental conditioning to do what I had demanded.

Also, I'd get my cash back.

There needed to be a reason why they would abandon their friend, and stop hurting her, so… I'd gladly be that reason.

That done with, I kicked Victoria's body as I walked back over to my stuff, grabbing my fresh clothes as I focused on dressing.

I've given more people an eyeful that I would normally like, even if it helped unnerve them.

I was also cold and wet.

Kate was shocked, as she stared at me like she couldn't believe that I was real. I assumed that she thought no one would ever stand up to Victoria, especially quirky little 'Mad' Max Caulfield.

The mad is way too fitting, as I wasn't completely sane.

Over two-thousand years, you get a bit… loopy.

Her eyes shot back and forth between Victoria's bleeding and still unconscious body, and mine.

I did take notice of how often Kate's eyes rested on me.

For a Christian girl, she was totally checking me out.

"Max… What did you do?" She asked me, out of breath and still in shock, as I finished pulling on my new black coat, a triangular pin attached to the lapel of it.

It was the closest thing I could find to the Hallows in the shopping mall, and while I had hated Death for a long time, and had never actually gotten to use the Hallows again, I still liked the symbol.

"I did what should have been done a long time ago Kate." I said with a strong smile as I took her hand in mine."You didn't deserve any of this Kate, and what kind of friend would just let her keep making your life Hell? I said I was going to be a better friend, I meant that."

She just stared at me, incredibility still in her eyes, before something seemed to shine in there for a second before vanishing.

"Now, let's go get your book, and maybe have a tea party? Like we used to?"

Kate shook off the shock then, before smiling a real smile at me, looking the best she had in weeks, despite the tears brimming in her eyes and the messed up hair.

_"Yeah, she's definitely my type."_

**"I'd love that Max."**

* * *

**After spending the day with Kate,** who I officially decided was my favorite person ever, I teleported back to the Railroad station at midnight.

I had decided to dub it the Rapture Station, in honor of my once brother, and that was where I decided to base my operations in the town.

I had already hid it under the Fidelius, and had stored all of my gold in a storeroom, and already set up a makeshift prison inside the construction room that was under the station.

It almost seemed like the town had wanted to build an underground railroad at some point, as there was a tunnel down below that went into exposed ground.

Arcadia Bay is a very lazy town, but that worked to my advantage, as I had a perfect place to conduct business… and keep any possible slaves I take on, such as young Nathan Prescott.

Who I woke up.

"You crazy bitch! Where the hell am I?!" Nathan screamed at me, his face red with rage as he struggled against the binds that held him to the stone chair. (I was still wondering why there was a stone chair down here, but hey, it was effective.)

We were seated in my new interrogation room, which was directly under the rails in the unfinished tunnel, and I wanted some answers from the punk before I go about fixing him.

"What. Happened. To. Kate. Marsh?" I asked slowly and carefully, as I twirled my wand in my hands, which he almost seemed to recognize for a second.

If he knew it was a wand, he didn't say anything.

"I didn't do a thing! Why do you care, huh? You a dyke?!" He screamed at me, as he tried to struggle free again only to fail miserably.

Enchanted ropes, wonderful things.

I just nodded then, as I reached within my pocket for a vial that hadn't been easy to get. I had to teleport all the way to bumblefuck Italy for it.

Veritaserum, pure and undiluted.

One-hundred percent, real and true Truth Serum.

I held it up to the light, inspecting it, before holding it before him to see.

"Do you know what this is Nathan?" I asked him, keeping my eyes trained on his, which were now narrowing in what may be fear.

My guess, he's scared of the new Max Caulfield.

I do admit, I am scarier than a young pacifistic girl.

_"Oh, if only Gangis could see me now…"_

"You gonna drug me bitch?"

"Not exactly. This, is called Veritaserum. It's a truth serum." I said honestly, as I set it on the table nonchalantly. "A few drops of this on your tongue, and you'll tell me anything I want to know.. A few more than that, you'll be my best friend. A bit more, my slave. The entire bottle, and you'll beg for death."

I said this all as if I was just discussing the weather.

Nathan immediately froze, even if he thought I was crazy.

He wasn't an idiot, and definitely didn't want truth serum anywhere near him.

Even possible truth serum.

"Now that you're calm, I'll ask you again. What, happened to Kate Marsh? Lie to me, and you'll get the bottle." I threatened him, holding the bottle up once more to reinforce the threat.

Nathan stared me down for a second, before all of the macho melted away like water from ice.

"I… I can't… He'll… he'll kill me!" Nathan freaked the fuck out, almost sobbing as he collapsed in his seat.

I may have cast a compulsion charm to confess on the boy, but he still shouldn't have reacted like that.

Man, this kid was really fucking guilty... or screwed up.

"Who is HE, Nathan?" I asked him, standing from my seat as I paced the room, my black witch's robe flowing around me. I figured that going traditional would enforce the whole 'truth serum' thing, and make him believe me.

_"I truly am a wicked witch, but not of the west."_

"I can't! He told me if I… If I…"

Nathan froze then, as if he heard something that scared the crap out of him.

Then he began to shake uncontrollably, pulsating violently and horribly before I stunned him.

_"The kid is prone to seizures, good to know…"_

I stood resigned then, as I proceeded to pour another dose of Draught of Death into his mouth before levitating him back into the glass coffin I had set up in the corner of the tunnel.

_"What? I'm a fun of the classics!"_

Leaving the brat there, protected and in stasis once more, I began to put my potions back into the lock box by the tunnel's stairs, and made my way up and out of the station.

For the best protection, I had warded the place against teleportation of any kind, including mine, so I actually had to leave.

Content with the fact that Nathan did know something about Kate, I decided that I needed to prevent Nathan from seizuring if I wanted to get answers out of him.

Veritaserum might just kill the kid, so I needed his meds.

It was now time to break into his house.

Maybe kill his father while I'm at it.

_"We'll see how it goes, you know?"_

**I'm breaking all kinds of laws today.**

* * *

**While 'Max' was planning a break in** to the manor of the most prestigious and paranoid family in the entire town, a young woman was seated inside of an old diner, wondering what she was going to do.

She was going through withdrawal, she was in way too much debt, and she was snowed into a diner with her mother.

Chloe Price was in hell, or at least her version of it.

And she didn't get her drugs either, because Nathan fucking Prescott flaked out when she had gone through all the effort of sneaking into that fucking school.

_"Just great… Little bastard running off…"_

"Don't you worry honey, I hear that the fire department is coming by soon to clear some of the snow away, so we should be free to go home soon." Her mother, Joyce, said hopefully as she placed a plate of food before her daughter, hoping to cheer her up.

Her daughter though, didn't want to cheer up.

"You call it a home… I don't." Chloe muttered hatefully, as she pushed aside the plate, refusing to fall for her mother's tricks.

She wanted to be angry, she deserved to be angry, to feel better by feeling worse.

She just felt sad, and she hated being sad, it was always awful.

It was almost like… something was wrong, and she had no idea what it was… but she felt like she wasn't supposed to be here…

It was driving her crazy, because she rarely wasn't sure of something, but this entire day was… wrong, very wrong.

And, her mother wouldn't give her a damn moment of silence.

_**"What a week so far…"**_


	3. Drowned Faces

Life 58: Strange Tidings

* * *

"A bit more white there…" I thought as I put on a few finishing touches, the brush flying across the canvas, light blooming on the piece.

No matter how much darkness, I had learned I needed more light. Always more light.

I was pretty sure I was finished painting, but each time it felt good enough, I kept adding more.

I definitely wasn't capturing the beauty, but I hadn't painted for half my lives, so I was a bit rusty. 

I don't know why I was painting, but I was mostly waiting… waiting for the stupid bastard to wake up.

Prescott Manor had been ridiculously easy to break into, and I wanted to do this right.

I easily could have abducted Sean Prescott, as I did his son, but his absence would be noticed… and I really didn't want to have to cast oblivations on a mass scale. Besides, I don't think the man would be very interesting.

Instead, I'm going to scare the fucker, interrogate him for any useful information, then wipe his mind clean.

So, I was painting in his living room, waiting for his security system to notice me, while letting all my pretty paint drip onto his nice carpet.

Honestly, I have no regrets about this, from what I'd heard, the man was a dick. Let his carpet get ruined.

It was with my final stroke, that I heard him gasp.

I turned with a smirk, as I took in the sight of Sean Prescott, the pitiful patriarch of the Prescott family, and unofficial ruler of Arcadia Bay.

He wore bunny slippers.

Oddly enough, he seemed to do a double take at seeing me, before anger like I've never seen bloomed on his face.

"Do you think you're the first to come after it? Because you're not!" He screamed at me, his eyes bulging as he seemed to ignore the fact that it was midnight, and his wife was sleeping upstairs.

I took a look at her earlier, pretty good looking lady, nice curves too. Shame she married for money, she could have done a lot better than the toupee wearing loser that was her husband.

I just blinked as he went on and on. Better he tell me information I wasn't here for, than have him lie about what I actually wanted to know.

"Just because I'm a squib, doesn't mean I'll give up the Grimoire! You can go back to where you came from, before I tell my friends about you. There will be nowhere you can hide you damn witch." He screamed and growled at me, alternating between the two just like my alternating mood. I kept switching between bored and interested, and I wish I could decide on one.

I didn't expect to hear about a grimoire though… that held promise.

"Grimoire you say?" I asked with a growing grin, my eyes lighting up with a sparkle not that different from that of my former mentor. Prescott immediately gulped.

"I love when people incriminate themselves."

"You… aren't here for the Grimoire?" He asked me nervously, his face paling in an instant.

"Nope. I kidnapped your son and just came for his meds. I wouldn't mind raping your mind though, and taking that grimoire off your hands. Not like you can use it anyway." I said with a chuckle, my wand flying up with a burning ruby glow as I blasted him backwards, his body colliding with the trophy case nearby.

Stepping closer to him, I used what little I knew of Legilimency to consume all relevant knowledge (That of Arcadia Bay, the Magical World, and what his wife enjoyed) from his mind, then leaving his unconscious and brain dead body in a pile of his own hubris.

Happy with what I learned, and dealing with a headache of lifetime, I made my way to his hidden cellar, chuckling all the way there.

Grimoire in hand, along with Nathan's meds, I left the Prescotts behind, along with my flawed painting.

Two brunette angels resting in the snow, a rusted triangle lying above them.

I was a bit rusty after all.

* * *

School is boring, anyone can tell you that, and it continued to be true as I sat through some environmental lecture about global warming being behind the freak snowstorm we had, and now the the unholy draught we were having. Honestly, I kind of just assumed the world was ending, and apparently I wasn't alone in this belief.

But hey, the bay drying up, however tame it sounds, was much more entertaining than this lady preaching about how the younger generation had to fix what their forefathers had ruined.

Yeah, I didn't feel like cleaning up the mistakes of others.

It's why I stopped being a hero.

To make it worse, Kate didn't have this class since Max had signed up for it, and it's too late to drop out…

So I was bored and kind of missing Binns' old lectures at this point. His I could sleep through at least.

As the woman droned on for the fifth or sixth time, I just dropped my head down as I debated building a Time Turner… or making Polyjuice and just enslaving a squirrel or something to take my place.

I just seethed until the clock finally reached the god forsaken end, and the woman let us free, the students swarming out the doors like angry bees, myself among them.

Maybe I could put a compulsion on Principal Wells to get me out of the useless classes? Then again, from what Prescott's mind had told me, Wells' mind was as fragile as pudding. One more compulsion would likely break the man, and while I wasn't adverse to that, the last thing I needed was a competent principal getting in the way of me enjoying myself.

As I made my way towards the exit, I saw a group of students crowded by a wall, their eyes locked on it as they muttered. From what little I could hear, I caught the words 'Who' and 'Missing.'

That was interesting enough to investigate, I would say.

Pushing my way through them, I saw a missing poster for Nathan, which was boring since I held him under lock and key, but I saw something else here.

Under the poster of the missing boy, I saw the edge of another peeking through, the paper of it ripped and torn.

Ignoring the protests of the students around me, I pulled Nathan's poster free, and laid eyes on the buried face below.

A pretty, but conceited looking girl smiled at me, feather earrings hanging from her ears.

Rachel Amber, a girl a bit older than my current self, had gone missing in the town a few months before Max had returned to it.

While this shouldn't have affected me at all, besides just the interest of solving a mystery, her name triggered something in me, an echo of something long forgotten, or recently lost?

"Do I know something about her? Or… did someone else?"

I kept running through my memory, trying to find where I could have heard something about this girl, but I was just coming up with dead ends and shallow words.

I truly didn't know this girl, but I felt like I did and that was something else to figure out. I had gotten feelings like this before, and I knew I couldn't let this, or this girl, go.

I knew I shouldn't.

Well, time to start an investigation.

* * *

I was never one for stakeouts, or for flipping through old books in a dusty library. I loved charging forward, cutting to the chase, and finding results directly.

I looked through some basic records from earlier this year, and looked up anything to do with Rachel Amber, and conveniently found the teacher that she had been the assistant for… And it just so happens that my dear Kate had also been working for the same teacher prior to her accident…

It was time to interrogate the man that everyone seemed to love, yet the one that no one seemed to really know anything about.

A man very similar to the man that I once knew, who had hidden so many dark things, yet had so many follow him blindly.

"Mark Jefferson, step into my parlor…"

* * *

I had grabbed the man when he was finishing up work in his classroom, and quickly activated my homemade Portkey. With a flash of light, it took the two of us far, far away from Arcadia Bay.

I had planned on just bringing him to Rapture Station, but I felt this compulsion of sorts upon seeing him stand there in his office, silently… coldly.

I felt something from the man, and it unnerved me.

So, rather than bring the man to my secret base, I brought him all the way to Nevada, to the bloody remains of the Goblin Stronghold.

Throwing him from my grasp and sending his body flying, I pulled a chair through the air, and in a second, binded his body to it with silver chains.

After ensuring the man wasn't going anywhere, I took my leave of him, sealing the place completely off from anyone that would want to search it.

I needed a few things, and I knew just where to find them.

* * *

"Welcome to Costume City!" A young cashier called out to the store as the front door chime echoed out. This young man had worked for the store for just a month, but the costume business had done well by him so far, so he happily spent his spare hours working.

It was an interesting job though, selling costumes and props for parties or any real occasion.

He normally didn't see too many interesting things while on the job, until a girl his age appeared out of nowhere, clad all in black robes and a fierce look on her face.

While they sometimes got cosplayers in the shop, they normally would stop and chat for a bit, usually asking for some part or another, even showing off their costumes in some cases.

This girl however, she just walked right in without a word, and made her way into the aisles, silent as a spirit and just as softly.

He left her to her business, as customers normally found what they were looking for, so he just sat back with his magazine.

She was probably looking for a wand or something, or-

Before he could finish his thought however, the girl walked up to the counter, her left hand holding onto a mask, a cloth sack in the other.

Before he could say a word, she threw the sack to him, and walked off with her mask in hand.

Shaking off the confusion, he climbed to his feet and raced to follow the strange girl, pushing the shop door open... Only to see an empty street before him, the street lights shining down on the asphalt and highlighting the fact that he was utterly alone.

Shaking his head, he walked back into the store, his eyes landing on the sack she'd thrown to him.

His curiosity getting the better of him, he opened the sack to find, to his surprise, a sack of gold coins.

Seeing that they looked real enough, he pushed the weird girl out of his mind, and got back to work.

He did wonder what she wanted a snake mask for.

* * *

"What the hell happened…?" The man known as Mark Jefferson wondered as he came back to the land of the living, the heat being the first thing he noticed as he came to, his body restrained by glowing chains that burned with some sort eldritch energy that he didn't dare try to understand.

"Hello Mark Jefferson, I have some questions for you." A scratchy voice echoed out in the cave that he found himself in, the voice completely unrecognizable in the silent realm that was his new prison.

His question was answered, however, as he observed a figure in darkened robes stroll into the room, the lights flickering around the figure as they walked at such a slow pace.

Jefferson wasn't new at this game however.

"Please! I'll answer anything! We don't need to fight." Jefferson called out to the figure, trying to play the game that he had played for so long, the amicable photographer, the understanding teacher. The nice and cool friend, the wise beyond his years visionary.

So many faces, yet none his own.

"Oh, we won't be fighting. You aren't leaving that chair until I'm done with you." The figure called out as they moved to face him, revealing a mask of a reptilian figure, burning red eyes shining and skull like features marking the mask in the darkness of the cave.

His abductor's words were scratchy and drawn out, almost like a snake, letters slurred and stretched, and while any other would be frightened, Jefferson was fine.

Enjoying this even, as it certainly beat another day grading awful assignments and looking over awful photographs for that damn contest.

However, it did serve his purposes well, he supposed, as so many laid themselves bare before him, their souls exposed to his judgeful gaze.

While he usually would have kept up the facade, something in the way they held themselves, told him quite simply to cut the shit, and cut it he did.

In almost an instant, his body shifted like a man relaxed, his shoulders loosening and a smile gracing his face comfortably as he sat back in the stone chair he was chained to.

He looked happy.

"So… what is this about, my most gracious host? Perhaps the Augustine photo?" Jefferson asked them, a lazy smirk warping his face in a mockery of a smile, the bindings not bothering him in the slightest.

While he gave off an image of a callous man enjoying himself, he had no way of knowing that his abductor was enjoying this debate much more than he did.

"Well, I mainly wanted to know your connection to Rachel Amber and Kate Marsh, but let's talk about a few things, shall we?" The snake faced figure suggested with excitement, throwing down a file onto Jefferson's lap, photos falling out of it, all depicting young women laid to rest and photographed in various poses.

Jefferson smirked here, his eyes glazing over as he observed his work with pride and glee, his gaze looking over each and every photograph.

"I already know you're connected to the disappearance of Rachel Amber, considering that the last time anyone saw her, she had come into school to assist you with the formation of a photography club… which was never formed." The figure stated to the silence of the room, the memory flashing through Jefferson's mind, along with memories of a darkened room, the snap of a camera echoing like the rain drops in the cave, his thoughts dominated like the will of so many others.

Their lives dangling in his grasp like his life in this stranger's.

However, he was marveling at the fact that he'd been working at the academy for less than a year, and someone had already unraveled his schemes.

How incredible.

"What tipped you off there?" Jefferson asked them, since he had been so sure that he'd covered his tracks several times over. Hell, he'd burned his tracks at several points, just to be sure that it would never come back to him.

Yet, it all had.

The figure chuckled here, as they revealed the bombshell they'd been hanging onto.

"I just looked into your teaching logs. You were listed as in school on April 22nd, and Rachel attended that day. However, her parents said that she didn't come home that night. Since she never left the school, which I cross referenced with the security cameras, that meant she didn't leave… The only member of staff that had seen her in the later part of the day, was you." The figure explained smugly, as even though he couldn't see their face, he knew they were smirking.

He just couldn't fathom that he had left such a trail, he had been over the books so many times, marking off any possible leads… how could this happen?

"I see you've tied the lines together Jefferson, now…" The figure said with glee as they stalked closer to him, lifting his chin to force him to meet their burning crimson eyes, fear actually managing to claw at his heart.

He knew then, that he wasn't leaving this cave alive.

"Tell me about Kate Marsh."

* * *

"Max, is that blood?" Kate asked me, almost in shock as she rubbed her finger against my sleeve, pointing out the droplets of scarlet against my black sleeve.

How she even noticed the little bit of red was nothing short of extraordinary, but I just smiled at her look of worry.

It was cute that she thought I was hurt, but she should have been worried for someone else.

I mean, I hurt plenty of people.

"Yeah Kate, I just nicked myself a little this morning, it's nothing." I said briskly, my smile cutting her off before she could get too worked up about me taking care of myself. She had already asked me to clean up my doom room, stating that it wasn't safe to have bits and pieces of the room thrown around.

I had been in the process of throwing out old bits of furniture Max had bought, and replacing it with pristine pieces that I had procured with the pilfered wealth that the Goblins had been so kind to give me.

Nothing too good for um… Hax Caulfield, as I'd taken to calling myself, as it helped with the assimilation a bit. Regardless, I had already replaced much of the dorm room, and had wisely gotten myself a safe for my "Voldemort" mask and the Prescott Grimoire… And wasn't that a surprise.

A leather bound history of the Prescott family, their lives and accomplishments… but bound in such a way that only a Magical could open it. Seems like someone didn't like Muggles in their family, and didn't think the family-line would dilute themselves so badly that they lost their magic completely.

How fitting for such a snobbish and sick family.

I was then interrupted from the gleeful recollection of my spoils, when Kate mentioned something about taking better care of myself.

I just smiled and nodded, as I thought over what I now knew, and it actually scared me a bit as the weird reality of it all sunk in for the first time.

Jefferson wasn't the end of this, despite the man's vile record, I had learned so very much, and surprisingly I had learned the most from poor, troubled Nathan.

From what I had seen, Nathan Prescott was what I called a "Channel", a living being able to connect with forces well beyond our little world... he wasn't crazy, and I now knew that, and so much more...

Arcadia Bay was much more than just a fishing town, it was in the middle of something big and bad… and it was opening.

It was almost like the lock on some cosmic Pandora's Box, just waiting to be opened… and the box was ready to crack.

A storm was coming… and I was right in the eye of it all.

"How wonderful."

* * *

On a dark shore, the sands blackened by unearthly flames, the tide gone and afraid, a being beyond imagination stood alone on the edge, staring into the space beyond.

Unseen, an infernal clock ticked by and by, hands passing posts, days passing like birds in the sky, the end approaching for all things.

The air began to freeze around the entity, the breeze chilling from its grace, the very presence of the being corrupting the ground below, everything coming to a close around it.

Finally, after the night began to wane, and a dreary sun tried to rise, the being attempted what one could call a smile, as time began to flow once more, the waves roaring and the leaves of the past flying their paths once more.

Yet, the figure stood still, life flowing freely around it, yet they were unaffected by any and everything. Frozen in their lack of pace, yet there all the same.

"Our time comes Master, if only you were ready for it… " And with that whisper uttered only for the ears of one, the being vanished, just as silently as it had appeared, the sands whipped into a rage as the winds howled in pain and misery.

Just as a storm began to rise, and so many fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Bleeding Angels

**Life 58: Strange Tidings**

* * *

**You know,** I was starting to forget there was more than Arcadia Bay.

It was my fourth day in this life, and I was already making mistakes.

It was a nice change of pace however, as normally I screw up in the first twenty hours.

I was getting better at this, I think.

The snow had been cleared out on Tuesday, and now we were approaching a full on draught, the Sun stepping its game up, the days feeling like Hell on Earth as the entire dorm had taken to leaving their doors and windows open to try and get cool in some way.

It was the late revenge of Summer, so I started a Lemonade stand outside the dormitory.

I had made over a hundred dollars, and I was selling cups for fifty cents.

Yep, the world was definitely ending, yet the school board was still denying it. 'Ecological Disaster due to unforeseen aquatic issues.'

Like global warming would made it snow in October… In Oregon… Or have a draught a day after a snowstorm…

I was doing well though, since I was slowly making way with Kate, had mostly solved what had happened to the missing girl Rachel Amber, and had done so much more…

**_"What? I can do a lot in a day."_**

* * *

**"Breaking News Arcadia Bay! You'll want to hear this!"** The television in the local tea shop, The Bay Cafe announced as the usual programming was replaced by the local news station.

Kate, who I had taken out for the morning, looked from me to the screen, while I just drank more of my awful tea.

I had never been one for tea, so when Kate wasn't looking I was was sure to add a few drops from my flask.

Much better.

"Famous photographer and local teacher Mark Jefferson has surrendered himself to the police, and confessed to more than eighty seven counts of kidnapping, sexual exploitation, and even murder of young girls all across the country! The Augustine Springs Disappearances were shockingly his doing!" The beautiful newscaster spoke as quickly as possible, shock and even tears showing on her face as the woman was clearly disturbed that such a well liked guy was evil.

Yep, I can get a lot done in a day, and technically a night.

The Imperius, while I'm not too skilled at it, can still be useful.

Kate looked just as surprised as the news anchor, but I did spy a little smile on her face.

I'm a good friend.

"In response, Jefferson has been sentenced to life in prison for his vile deeds, and surprisingly has accepted his punishment. However, while this shocking turn of events has cleared up much of recent events, still more mysteries are occurring across Arcadia Bay, and even the country."

More mysteries? I thought with a smirk, risking taking an actual swig while Kate was so distracted as she was. Old Mrs. Tobins gave me the stink eye for it, but didn't say a thing, prompting a wave of thanks from me for it.

The woman could keep a secret, and I was thankful for it.

"The entire town has been concerned by the odd and even scary weather in the Bay, from the freak snowstorms and to the most recent draughts, and even reports that wildlife have been dying all over the town, not to mention the recent disappearance of beloved student Nathan Prescott and the brutalization of his father. While officials are baffled and enraged, the government has issued a response. Going to it now."

_"Oh shit…"_

The news report then cut to some guy in a suit that looked important, that I didn't really recognize, but some text said that his name was Charles Collins, and apparently he was President…

This would not bode well…

"Hello there my fellow Americans, I am not as ignorant as many people claim I am. The frightening and strange events in the small town of Arcadia Bay are of importance to the government and it's people, and we are concerned about what is going on there and how to fix it." The president said sharply, his green eyes locked on the camera in an almost scary way.

At least scary to me, going by what he said next…

"In response, I have authorized a group of Federal Agents and Environmental Professionals to investigate the town, and discover what is happening. I wish them luck, and hope that things are resolved soon."

"Fuck, he's sending in the Feds…"

I said that out loud…

**"Max! Language!"**

* * *

**A man sat atop a parked car,** a small town in the distance meeting his eyes as he stared out past it to the skyline.

The sky was an odd pinkish color, as the sun rained harsh hatred down upon the town, almost as it had been forsaken.

This man was Special Agent Holden Strouse, and he couldn't believe the weird shit they had been hearing about this town, nor about the… omens, that had been thrown around when speaking about the place.

A small fishing town, not on any map, seemingly the ground zero of the apocalypse? It was fitting now that he thought about it…

He had never had any qualms about his faith, but he wasn't one to accept his fate, and if this seemingly mundane town had the potential to bring out the end of the world…?

He would do anything to stop it…

"What do you think of the place?" A feminine voice to his left asked, a turn of his head revealing in his partner, in more ways than one, Julie Rhyner, and his soon to be wife.

He laughed then, his cigarette hanging from his lips, his eyes tracking a particular stork, that then fell dead from the sky, its body dropping like a rock.

The fact that for a second, the sun seemingly disappeared, didn't do much to settle his nerves.

**"Jules… I think we're out of our league."**

* * *

**(Thursday)**

* * *

**I've encountered the Federal Bureau before.**

This wasn't my first life as an American, nor was it my first where either some strange bullshit gets the attention of the Feds, or I do.

In this case, the aforementioned bullshit and I teamed up, and now I've got feds crawling over the school, trying to solve the same mystery as I am, but also send me to jail…

How pleasant…

Not to mention that they were snooping around the Academy as well… But at least classes were cancelled, which was a positive.

The school did just as I did with Jefferson, and checked the records to determine where Nathan had been when he was abducted, and determined it was when he had left class for the restroom, and decided that students were not to go anywhere on their own, especially after the sexual predator that Jefferson turned out to be, apparently the school board didn't trust it's own teachers now…

Good on them, since they didn't even realize how much of a sadistic fuck that Jefferson was.

And aside from being in an episode of X-Files, I was enjoying myself thoroughly.

Really, I was.

"Max, are you sure you really want to paint me?" Kate's concerned voice asked me timidly as I swept my brush across my latest canvas, my face frozen in concentration, my eyes only briefly drifting to her for reference.

"Just like the last two times you've asked me Kate, yes, I really do want to paint you." I reassured the girl, my eye's only just lingering too long.

Kate whimpered here in the cutest of ways, but I kept such thoughts to myself.

The two of us had taken to spending time together in the free time my actions and the weirdness of this time had given us, and I wasn't going to waste an instance.

Sure, that Warren guy was sad as hell, but I was so infatuated with Kate Beverly Marsh that it honestly worried me.

I knew, not even a week of knowing her, that I loved her.

Yeah, I had loved other girls besides… Her, Kate reminded me of Her in so many ways, yet she was all together her own beautiful person.

_"By God, I'm a sappy fuck…"_

"But do I really have to wear this silly costume?" Kate asked, her eyes trailing down at herself, the white dress complimenting her curves in ways that were way too embarrassing to wear to Church.

"_What can I say, I've got a bit of an Angel Fetish. I'm not ashamed to admit it."_

"It's a themed portrait Kate, so I chose a theme. I would love to do a collection of portraits of you, but your beauty just keeps escaping me before I can paint you." I said to her, the warmth and honesty in my voice bringing a smile to her face.

"Thanks Max."

"And… you make a cute angel."

Her blush was enough for me to smile.

**I won't deny it, I'm a sappy fuck.**

* * *

**The school wasn't legally allowed to make us stay there.**

Some obscure law that basically prevented the school from holding us hostage, but nonetheless, we could leave… but not alone.

So, I decided to finally put an end to the mystery of Rachel Amber.

With my new Watson, the ever adorable, Kate Marsh.

I had let Kate into my investigation not long after Jefferson had 'turned himself in', and I had let her cry her eyes out on my shoulder.

I had seen in that fucker's eyes what he had done, and I barely restrained myself from killing him on the spot… But I knew those families that he had ruined needed closure…

Just as Rachel Amber's did… but I needed to know more about her.

Who the hell even was Rachel Amber?

I needed to know, so I decided to face Max's past, and my own in the process.

Also, Kate was way too helpful, even if she decided we needed detective outfits…

_"I'm wearing a fucking Deerstalker… This girl is trying to kill me…"_

So, there we were, standing outside a mom and pop diner, the Two Whales.

I was looking for a girl with Blue Hair… that I only knew the name of.

And something about pirates…?

Max's memories weren't too helpful here, so I was flying on the seat of my pants, and just decided to walk inside with Kate by my side.

We found ourselves a booth, and decided to get lunch.

I already informed Kate of what we were doing, and had went to pick herself something off the menu, while I looked at the waitress.

Joyce Price, the mother of Max's childhood friend Chloe.

She reminded me of Molly Weasley in many ways, just… less imposing.

She would play into my hands perfectly, I just had to get her to recognize me…

Which was going to be hard, since I looked like a goth chewed Max Caulfield up and spit her out.

Yet, I sometimes get lucky.

"Max? Max Caulfield? I heard you were back in town!" Joyce, kind woman that she was, called out as soon as she caught sight of me, rushing over, her smile wide and true.

"I heard so much about you! You should have come by sooner, oh Chloe will be so happy to see you." Joyce said in a rush, her eyes almost glowing, before she noticed my new best friend.

Kate almost seemed put out here, her eyes shaking a bit.

"Oh, I'm Kate Marsh, I'm Max's-"

"Girlfriend, she's my girlfriend. How is Chloe by the way Joyce?" I asked the mother of Chloe Price, the girl that still held a place in Max's heart, but not my mine. Also, I found teasing Kate to be my favorite activity.

"I'm happy for you Max, and Chloe's been alright, a bit sad, but I know you can cheer her up!" She said to me with a smile, before turning to Kate. "It's great to meet you dear, can I get you anything?"

Kate, the living blush, just asked for some tea and sandwiches, and Joyce was off in a breeze.

I just smiled at Kate, a wink sent her away as she once again turned as red as a Chinese Fireball, with none of the flames.

**God I love this girl.**

* * *

**"Hello Chloe."** I said to the blue-ette girl as she sat across from us in the diner booth, her eyes focused on me as if I wasn't really there.

I feel bad for Kate, she was just sitting there awkwardly next to me. I sent her a smile to ease her nerves.

"Hey Max… I heard you were back… Couldn't have said hi sooner could you?" Chloe asked me, her voice carrying a harsh tone as she almost accused me with her eyes.

"I should have, but I've been busy Chloe, I've been doing a lot lately." I argued, my patience wearing a bit thin, but I knew Max wouldn't scream at the girl, even the headstrong version of Max that I had created.

"Busy going goth I see." She observed, her tone shifting to that of amusement, my eyes just rolling.

"I think you look very cool Max..." Kate muttered out, her hand reaching for mine under the table, almost like she thought being called a goth would offend me.

"And who even are you?" Chloe near yelled at Kate, who just froze at the girl's tone like a deer in headlights.

This girl's nerve was pissing me off.

"Her name is Kate, she's not here for you to bully, and she's an angel." I growled at the punk, taking a deep breath as I got back to the point of us even being here.

"Chloe, we're only here because I think you need to know something, and I do too. I spoke with Mark Jefferson before he turned himself in, he kidnapped Rachel Amber. I know you were her friend, I need you to come with me."

She stared at me then, before sadness overtook her in a wave.

"You… You know where she is?" Chloe asked me in a near whisper, her eyes watering as she almost seemed to hope beyond hope.

I could instantly see Kate's heart go out to the girl. I knew Kate would get emotional, but I didn't expect Chloe Price to break down as she did.

"I know where to find out, if you come with us Chloe." I almost begged the girl, already knowing what would be there, and I knew where we would go after that.

I needed to close this history book, for Chloe, for Rachel Amber, and most importantly, for Kate.

"Okay Max…"

**It was time to go to the bunker.**

* * *

**We took Chloe's truck,** Chloe riding passenger as I drove, Kate sitting in the back drawing in her sketchbook. Kate didn't know how to react to Chloe, so she just resorted to drawing.

I had a look at one point, and saw a picture of a blue jay flying in the rain.

God, this girl can't get cuter.

Chloe didn't say a word as I drove us out of town, the countryside approaching us as we drove through the sunset, the trio of us in silence as the radio played.

I already knew where we were going, as I had found the knowledge in all three of those fuckers' heads.

The Prescott Family Barn, and underneath, The vile Dark Room, the secret cesspool of Mark Jefferson's wet dreams.

The place where he would take drugged up girls and do anything his blackened heart desired. I knew he'd taken Rachel Amber there… and I knew he had taken Kate there.

Rachel knew too much, I pulled that straight from his mind.

He normally took girls, used them, and then drugged their memories away.

Rachel Amber already knew too much, so Jefferson had Nathan bring her to him, and had him overdose her.

He knew Nathan's mind was broken, and he tricked the boy into overdosing her.

He made him into a murderer, a scapegoat to blame everything on.

Nathan Prescott was going to have a peaceful life, I already cured his inner madness, and was setting plans in place to resolve things.

But it all ties into the Dark Room…

**And that fucking storm…**

* * *

**Chloe was confused by the barn,** Kate was too, but at least she was kind about it.

"Max, what the hell is this place?" Chloe asked me, her eyes turning to me as her tears stayed.

"This is the Prescott Barn, it's been in their family a while, untouched… until recently. I had a friend hack into Sean Prescott's email. He was letting Jefferson use the place." I explained, my voice dark and cold. "I'll show you."

And with that, I led them inside quickly, leading them straight to the hatch leading down below.

Kate and Chloe were surprised as I led them down below, the darkness consuming us as I led through the code locked door, and into the Dark Room.

Inside the room was a bunker full of living supplies, furniture, a small kitchen, and most of all… camera equipment.

"Max… what is this place?" Kate asked me, her hands reaching for mine as I knew she remembered the place, even if she didn't know she did. I pulled her into a brief hug before I turned to Chloe.

"The red binders Chloe, that's what we came for." I told the girl, directing both of them towards the ominous binders by the computer.

Eighteen binders sat in an open locker, eighteen names on each.

The last four were the ones that stood out to the three of us.

Rachel, Kate, Victoria, and Maxine.

There was silence in the room, as we grabbed each of the binders and began looking through them.

Photos of girls from all across the school, all in states of undress and intoxication.

I made sure to open the next locker over, and discovered another locker full of red binders.

There was a paper on the locker doors that read Augustine Springs.

I knew there was a backroom full of more lockers, all from different places across America.

Chloe worked herself into a rage from Rachel's binder, and was tearing apart the cameras in her rage, and I let her.

I didn't expect Kate to join her, until I remembered one of Jefferson's memories… a part that I had forgotten in the rush of evilness in his mind.

He'd taken Lynn, Kate's ten year old sister.

"THAT BASTARD!" Kate roared, her eyes angry and tearful as she began helping Chloe destroy the man's camera equipment, her eyes glowing like a rageful phoenix.

I had to stop her when she went for the computer, pulling her into my arms as I led her to the couch.

I knew I couldn't let them destroy the computer, especially with all the information in that computer, all the secrets that Jefferson had on it.

I pulled Kate onto my lap as she began sobbing into my shoulder, her eyes pouring out her sorrows and grief.

I held her strong as I pulled my phone free from my clothes, dialing the number that the school had given us for the agents.

Dial tone, more sobs from my grieving sweetheart.

"Special Agent Holden Strouse, Federal Bureau of Investigation, who am I speaking to?" The voice on the phone, a grizzled sounding man answered me, asking the question I expected.

I spoke bravely, and tried to shush down Kate's cries.

"This is Max Caulfield, my friends and I need your help. It's about Mark Jefferson."

**"Where are you?"**

* * *

**"Mark Jefferson has been put on Death Row."**

"After a shocking discovery by a group of teenagers in Arcadia Bay, it's been discovered that Jefferson had a secret bunker where he took kidnapped and drugged girls, and where he kept every piece of evidence of his crimes and disgusting behavior. He has been put on death row, and is expected to be put to death within the week. The list of girls kidnapped by Mark Jefferson are as follows-"

That was the point where I turned off the television.

Kate and I were seated in her dorm room, neither of us actually looking at the television, Kate looking into her lap as I held her.

She hadn't said anything since the agents interviewed us, and I just took over.

I spoke to the agents and the cops, I spoke to her parents, and I stood back as Kate hugged her sisters as hard as she could.

She and I went back to her dorm to grab her bunny and some clothes, as she was going to spend the night with her family.

Along the way, we found ourselves watching the emergency news report as this chapter of our lives fell closed.

I only wish I could do more for Kate, so I just held her.

"Max… thank you."

"Always Kate." And I meant it, as I held her through the sadness, and promised myself that I would pay a final visit to that bastard Jefferson for what he had done.

I had sent him off early, and now I knew so much more of what he had done.

I wasn't done with him yet.

"No, really Max… I don't know where I would be if you hadn't helped me… I could be dead right now Max… You could be dead… I-" She muttered in almost fear and shock as she looked into my eyes, her lip quivering as she thought about all that could have gone wrong, her heart beating faster than I thought possible.

I couldn't let her get like this, I couldn't let her life be ruled by that bastard's actions.

So I did the only thing I could do.

**I kissed her.**


	5. Deathly Hollow

**Life 58: Strange Tidings**

* * *

**"Hello Chloe."** I said quietly as I sat beside the girl that, what remained of Max Caulfield, kept pulling me towards.

Every part of me wanted to be with Kate, but things seemed to be pulling us apart…

Her and I had finally become something more than what we had been before, and enjoyed a day of bliss together… until her sister Lynn came to visit her in her dorm… where we were in a position that wasn't quite saintly…

Fortunately, we weren't undressed or anything, but the sheer fact that her little sister had caught us together… Kate was afraid that her father would find out about us, and had shut me out…

My words were doing nothing to change her mind… so here I was, alone and lost.

Without a purpose, the stubborn entity that Max had become insisted that I go to Chloe.

While I knew what had become of Rachel Amber, the girl's best friend didn't… Max insisted I tell her.

I flat out refused, considering I shouldn't know that the poor girl was gone, that nothing and no one was bringing her back…

But seeing Chloe Price, so broken up, her spirit crushed and broken into little pieces… she looked so familiar to me then… Luna Lovegood came to mind then, a girl I hadn't thought of since my first life… the poor girl…

I knew I couldn't let this injustice lie, for I had failed enough before…

I would save her.

Chloe didn't notice I was even here., but that didn't matter in the slightest.

"Everything will be alright Chloe Price, I swear to you this." I muttered under my breath, my eyes burning as I stood from the booth, my footsteps echoing as I walked out into the blazing heat of Arcadia Bay.

**I knew what I had to do.**

* * *

**I wrote a letter.**

My blood formed the letters.

What I was undertaking was a feat of magic both great and vile, both terrifying and awe inspiring… but despite all my years and experience, I couldn't do this alone.

So, I wrote to the one man I knew I could trust, that I knew wouldn't judge me.

The man I once considered my grandfather, and I his own kin.

"Hello again, my friend." A kindly voice said behind me, my body turned towards the hollow tide of the bay, my eyes fixated on the corpse of a fallen whale.

This world was ending, what would my transgressions do to it?

I turned then, and saw the familiar face of Albus Dumbledore, shadowy black robes on his frame, a dark grin on his face so much like that of my former Godfather.

This man may be Albus Dumbledore, but he was so very different from the man I once knew.

"Albus, it's not been an hour."

"Magic can do many things Harry, your continued existence should be proof enough of that I believe." He said to me with a chuckle, his eyes warm as he gazed at me. However, our exchange was swiftly interrupted as his eyes scanned across the bay, the stench of death heavy in the town.

"He's been here…" Albus muttered, his eyes growing so much older than he usually seemed, his face finally matching his so very old age.

This wasn't the mischievous rebel that laid waste to the Magical Tribes of Europe, this was the warrior that had saved the lost remains of the Magical World… the counterpart to the vanquisher of Grindelwald…

This was the man I knew as well as myself.

"I know… As his avatar, I feel his presence… He's been quieter than usual." I said in return, my eyes narrowing in annoyance.

My patron was pissing me off.

"He speaks to you?" Albus asked in surprise, his eyebrows reaching for the sweet heavens, the fizzle in his eyes returning.

"Once. Normally I get a… pull, to what he desires… I've gotten nothing so far this life… yet he walks the Earth... This isn't going to end well Albus." I stated, my feet bringing me to the close shore, my left hand coming to rest on the decaying face of the whale, the wild beast gone from this world.

"I know… He seems to be acting against you Harry. I am worried." Albus said in a tone that drew so many memories from me. An image of a sneering reptilian man came to mind, an emerald light burning through my pupils for a moment.

I shook myself from the past, for that life had long been taken from me… yet the fragments persisted…

"This wouldn't be the first time…"

"Are you ready for the end Harry?" Albus asked me, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder, our eyes meeting.

His presence was always a comforting one.

If only he had some Lemon Drops…

"You asked me that once… and I knew my answer even then…"

"Is it still the same?" He asked, a look coming onto him that I had come to know well, but not from him.

Never from him.

Doubt.

**"I've always been ready, but I won't go quietly."**

* * *

**Death may control me,** but I would not be docile to his whims.

I would make my path that which I choose, Destiny rearing from my road.

I stood in Arcadia Bay's cemetery, the one place in the entire town that held a connection strong enough to pierce the veil.

I called out into the dark, and I pulled upon the tether that tied me into Death's service, one that I had tried to break free from so many times… yet Death stood straight against my petty attempts.

This time, I would not let him stop me.

I'll let him try, but just as he won't give me up, I won't let him stop me.

"Death! This is your last chance! Set me free, and I'll stop now!" I called out into the dark, the familiar presence of my master so very strong in the air that I swore he was breathing upon my neck at that very moment.

Yet he stayed away from sight, silence being my only companion.

I snarled in frustration, as I accepted this.

"So be it…" I muttered out, as I stepped closer to the center of the land, a shape burning itself into the grounds as I walked.

I had carved a pentacle into the Earth, blood of evil filling it's void.

Atop a leyline, was a cauldron filled with blood and sulfur, a box resting beside it.

A blistering fire burned beneath the steel, smoke and fog filling the air with the scent of agony.

There was no turning back, as I crossed a line that I had drawn for myself so long ago.

Stepping to the cauldron, I reached into my robes and pulled out an object of shimmering white.

A human skull laid in my hands, the bones still holding bits of flesh.

Rachel.

I had seen much more vileness than this, so my stomach held.

I dropped the skull into the water, and took a breath, reaching then into the box.

I began to speak, my voice wavering as I braced myself for the strain that I knew would come.

The darkness would once again try to consume me, as it always tried.

Never again would I let it control me…

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your daughter!" I called out, my hand dropping a rib from James Amber, Rachel's father that had tried to kill the girl's mother and lied about it… A betrayal of family, yet still family all the same…

I knew my actions were no better… but damned if I would let go of this life without getting my way once…

The next ingredient was a loophole of sorts…

"Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master!" I bellowed out, my hand dropping Chloe's appendix into the cauldron.

The girl had had it removed years ago, but strangely it had been kept for ice for years.

While Chloe had not sacrificed it for Rachel, the Magic held.

Apparently Chloe would give anything for Rachel, and Magic itself knew that.

The cauldron spewed forth a violet smoke at the inclusion, and a smile formed briefly on my face.

Even if the end came, there would be a calm before it.

The end would not come quietly and painfully.

There would be closure before rapture, I would ensure it.

Finally, I pulled forth a vial from my robes… the scarlet blood of Mark Jefferson, a man now dead as punishment for his wicked actions.

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe!" I screamed as the magic tore into my flesh, the pressure in the air mounting as lights began to fill the sky in a monsoon of motion and magic.

The blood fell swiftly into the cauldron, and a vortex opened from the ground, gravity pulling on my bones as an unholy screech filled the night, and then nothing…

The night turned dark and silent once more… and the blood began to bubble.

A lesser wizard would have thought that failure was all that had happened… but I knew my strengths and faults…

A girl broke through the surface of the crimson depths, her eyes wild as she struggled to breathe through lungs newly formed.

I pulled her from the cauldron, her body shimmering in the night air, her hair almost glowing in the light of the fire.

**"Welcome back Rachel Amber."**

* * *

**Chloe Price had come to the end.**

She had nothing left.

Her mother didn't understand, that she had lost so much… even her hope.

Max, her once best friend, had finally returned to her life… and replaced her in no time at all….

She didn't blame her, as she had replaced her long before, when she had met the love of her life… her angel…

And now, she knew that she was alone.

The police and the feds had searched Arcadia Bay for any missing girls, and found nothing…

Rachel might as well have been dead, because she was gone…

Chloe had lost everything… and now she was here.

She stood atop Arcadia Bay's lighthouse, the place she had once felt comfort… And stood on the edge.

She looked down at the hills below, the waves that had once graced the shores now weak and wallowing under the heat of the night.

She didn't know what was wrong with her, or this damn town, but she looked to the sky then, and saw a sight that should have been impossible…

There were two moons in the sky.

Of course, as if this town hadn't gotten bad enough… now reality itself was fucked.

She took a breath then, and looked over the land, her eyes closed as she began to move her legs… only to feel a vibration in her pocket.

Her cell phone.

She thought she had left it behind, but apparently she hadn't.

She didn't want to talk to her mother, not now, but she answered it anyway, not even looking at the number in her anger.

"What?!"

**"That's some way to say hello Price."**

* * *

**I opened my eyes to the abyss.**

I had fallen asleep in the graveyard, my strength gone after I had resurrect Rachel, only lasting long enough to give her a set of her clothes and her old cell phone.

She would do the rest, and knew enough to keep her mouth shut.

The strain of Necromancy was not one I had known, so it drained what little energy I had left, and left me hollow… until I awoke in the realm of my patron…

Death had deemed it time for a meeting.

_**DEFILER**_

That was all Death said to me, his voice piercing and sharp as it rang throughout the darkness of the void, horror attempting to consume my soul… but I didn't scare easily.

I had beaten Death long ago, even if he held my soul now. I had prevailed over fear a long time ago, and his threats did nothing.

"You're working in the shadows, I've felt it. You refuse to explain, and for that, I took revenge. You knew what I was doing, and you refused to stop me." I said in the emptiness, my form not even existing, my mind my only vessel in the space between mortality and its end.

Silence.

**_CONSEQUENCES_**

"You can try you ghastly fuck. I've mastered you, and now I've mastered your domain. You. Can. Try." I called out, the vibrancy of my power igniting like a flame in the darkness of death, light blooming in a world without it.

Death felt pain.

If only I could make him bleed…

"You've taken more from me than I can remember. One more love lost won't stop me." I screamed at the unseen entity, my magic burning at the chain that held my soul in the being's grasp, the harsh binds on my very existence…

_**THE FIRST**_

I froze, my anger fluttering out like a burnt out match, my magic disappearing into the void in a swift chill.

My world came crashing down around me, even in the world between my worlds.

It was impossible… it had to be...

"You couldn't…"

**I DON'T BLUFF**

I felt a wave of darkness swarm me, as I felt it pull me down, its filthy fingers trying to pull me apart.

I let it.

_**YOU ARE MINE**_

**I didn't need to be reminded…**

* * *

**I awoke with a gift.**

The mental image of a searing pair of emerald eyes in an unholy storm, all that remains of the world burning as the sky fell scarlet.

My eyes glimmered with what had to be tears, as I pulled myself from the ground, and was shocked as rain fell down from the heavens.

The skies cried with me, as the epilogue to this story was coming.

The song of Maxine Caulfield was coming to an end, and my time in this world was almost over…

The drought was over…

**The storm had begun.**

* * *

**(Friday)**

* * *

**"Alice looks a bit skinny Katie."** Lynn Marsh observed in the silence, as the two sisters sat alone in the elder's dorm room, the ten year old Marsh girl humming as she pat the beautiful bunny. Alice, the proclaimed Rabbit Queen, merely slept on the girl's lap. They had gotten together for the morning, as Kate's worries had gotten worse, begging her sister to come over.

"I'm sure she's fine Lynn." Kate muttered as she held her hands together on her lap, her eyes locked on her fingers.

She had chewed her nails the night before, the stress getting to her, her sleep restless.

Lynn just smiled at her sister, a cloth rabbit toy flying from her hand and smacking Kate in the face.

Kate just jumped in response, her eyes slight with sheer disbelief.

"About time you stopped being so angsty." Lynn said with a grin, Alice waking up enough to give a small nod, seemingly agreeing with the younger Marsh girl.

"I was not-" Kate tried to defend herself, only for Lynn to laugh in her face.

"Katie, you are a terrible liar." Lynn said with a grin as she moved to sit beside Kate, Alice coming to rest on her owner's tense lap.

Kate looked down then, taking a breath as she tried to come up with some response, only to be shocked to an inch of her life.

"And that's why I'm not telling Daddy about your girlfriend." Lynn said with a chuckle as she gave her sister a hug, Alice being squished between them, the bunny's anger being loud and obvious.

Kate's face just froze then, shock on her features, before a small smile found its way to her face.

"Thank you Lynn."

"On one condition." Lynn said with a sharp grin, her eyes glowing with mischief as Kate's heart dropped like a stone.

Kate gulped.

"I get to meet Max, you know, when she doesn't have fuck me eyes."

Kate just nodded quickly, as she couldn't find words after hearing her baby sister describe the bad influence that she called her girlfriend.

She wasn't looking forward to their meeting, but anything was better than her father finding out.

Maybe she'd tell him in… five years or so, but not today.

Hopefully Max wouldn't embarrass her too much…

Her hopes were in vain… **but they wouldn't be the least of her worries…**

* * *

**"It's a storm Albus."** I said to him, our focus on the sky above us, the sun missing from the sky, as a red light started to consume the sky.

We gathered here, on the shore of Arcadia Bay, as we watched dark clouds begin to gather in the skies, the light gone and forgotten from the air above.

"I know… I can sense it… Death has come for this world." Albus muttered, his breath forming steam in the air as the heat of a thousand suns washed over the town, despite the fact that none reached it.

"Will you stand with me Albus, despite the cost?" I asked him, my trust going out to him, hoping with all my heart that I wouldn't have to face the storm alone.

He didn't disappoint, his grin so familiar that it instantly made me grin in response.

"Always my friend." He said to me, as he pulled his wand free, aiming it at the sky, as I did the same.

The storm was coming, and if a protection ward from two of the strongest wizards in existence could keep it at bay, we had to try.

For the sake of all of us.

As one, my oldest friend and I screamed into the heavens, our wands acting as one as did our voices, our magic screaming into the skies as we gave all we had.

**"Protego Horribilis!"**

* * *

**"Is something wrong Max? You've hardly touched your tea…"** Kate asked me with a tilt of her head, the two of us sitting together in my dorm, Kate obvious to what stared me in the face through my window.

Albus and I had hid Arcadia Bay from the coming storm, to give them what little peace we could… before we would fail.

Albus and I knew we couldn't beat Death, and no matter what came after, we knew we would die with no regrets.

I only hoped that the next life would be peaceful…

"I just want you to know something Kate, before it's too late." I said to her, my hands reaching for hers as I drew closer to her, my awful tea forgotten as I met her gaze.

Her hazel eyes were so beautiful… If only I had gotten more time with her… She was truly special…

"What are you talking about Max?" Kate asked, concern filling her eyes as I pulled her into my arms, before I lost what little strength I had left in me.

This would be my last chance to tell her, because both Albus and I knew we couldn't hold the spell up for long… we knew we had but hours left…

The storm was almost here, and we weren't ready…

"I love you Kate."

**But I hope she is…**


	6. Storm's End

**Life 58: Strange Tidings**

* * *

**I had fallen asleep with Kate,** and awoke on the shores of disaster.

Just as before, in my first vision of this life, I saw the Arcadia Bay, and its lighthouse, as my eyesight spiraled in the vortex of wind crashing around me.

I stood in the storm once more, and this time… I felt the wind, I smelt the fires of Arcadia Bay, and I felt the blood pouring from my mouth as I struggled to keep standing.

"How… how could this have happened…?" I knew that my actions would have consequences, Death had said as much with my ritual's end… but for the storm to rise just as before?

How had I not averted the storm in some way?

If every choice had an effect, did I damn this world?

Regardless of my morals, I saw the tornado of devastation once more, the shore of the town being torn apart under its ferocious power.

I closed my eyes and hoped…. Because I couldn't be here yet… I had hours left, I knew I did…

The spell had to have done something…

And I heard a voice then, the storm blowing through my bones, a voice that I hadn't heard in a very long time…

**"Harry, we can't stop here."**

* * *

**(Friday, October 11th, 2013)**

* * *

**I woke up,** Kate's hair loose around us as I slowly climbed to my feet, leaving Kate sleeping away as I grabbed my shoes off the floor.

I turned to her lovely face as I pulled myself together, my eyes drifting to the window of my room, the red haze meeting my gaze.

It was midday already… I shouldn't have fallen asleep, but I had wanted to spend a bit more time with her… Selfish I may be, but I didn't want to go so swiftly.

After fifty seven deaths, and who remembers how much strife and anguish, I wanted to savor this one…

I took a breath then, and pulled some stationary from my desk, and began to write a letter, one more heartfelt than any I had ever written.

After what felt like an eternity, I finished writing, and signed the letter before enclosing it in a golden envelope, the film of the paper shimmering in the light.

Grabbing a quill that I had found in my short travels with Albus, I wrote five simple words on the envelope, and left it atop of Kate's bag.

I had written all I could, and made this all so clear, my thoughts more aligned than ever before.

I felt a calm in my heart that I had never known, and smiled at the girl that had taken this life of mine and turned it into something I hadn't expected.

Worth it.

I left my goodbye to her there, the black ink on the envelope drying in the humid air of the room.

**I Open at the Close.**

* * *

**Albus Dumbledore sat alone in compilation,** the warm diner around him leaving him with assurance to his decision.

This town held so many people, all with hopes and dreams and so much love in their hearts.

For their family, for their friends, and for this town itself.

"How quaint." Albus said with a chuckle, as he considered all he had done in this life, and what he was truly prepared to give up…

He knew that Harry, the greatest friend he had never known in this life, but had in another, was prepared.

Albus liked to consider himself a righteous man, yet still a piece of him remained behind, questioning whether there was more for him than sacrifice.

He wouldn't leave Harry to sacrifice themselves, not as the other Dumbledore had… but he knew that their actions that night would define or destroy this world…

And he knew they wouldn't stand a chance against the literal entity of Death…

So, he called in a favor, of which many were owed to him…

He asked his old ally Fillius to find a man for him, one incredible and yet unknown to this world… a man that had lived a life much different from that Harry had known of him.

And Fillius had sent him here, to meet the man that had eluded most of Europe.

A man almost as interesting as Albus himself.

The old wizard turned his head then, as he heard the jingle of the diner's doors open, and a slender man with short, groomed black hair walked into the diner.

He wore fine clothing, that which only money and prestige could grant you, yet a troubled look crossed his face.

The man had to be almost ninety years old by now, yet he looked only slightly middle aged, not a single gray in his hair.

Dark and unremarkable brown eyes looked out onto the world, only to lock eyes with Albus himself.

The two nodded at one another, before the man walked closer to him, their minds both whirling.

This was the man that Albus hoped could turn their destiny onto a brighter path, and save the world from so much pain and hurt…

"You're Albus the Renegade…" The man spoke in a posh accent, not a single question in his tone, merely a solid observation.

His intellect was what drew Albus to him, along with the stories of Harry's original life… and the difference between that world and this one.

Where as Albus had been a simple professor in Harry's world, and this man a criminal, in this world their roles had been reversed.

How interesting of a situation they found themselves in, relying on a man that Harry had been so opposed against, once upon a time…

"Mr. Riddle, have a seat."

**"Please, call me Tom."**

* * *

**Thomas "Tom" Riddle was confused.**

He had been led to this backwards, slowly decaying, Fishing Town in Oregon, with the promise of a job opportunity.

Instead, he found Albus the Renegade, the Magical World's most wanted, asking for his help in stopping the apocalypse.

Still more normal than when Hepzibah Smith offered him a job as her personal consort… He didn't want to remember that too much…

Regardless, the Renegade offered him his horde of treasure in return for his help, and Tom knew that it would be worth it… if they all survived that is…

They only had to stop a storm powered by the strength of Death itself…

Tom might have been a bit smug, but he felt they stood a pretty good chance.

Now then, **they just had to get Harry to agree…**

* * *

**"No, no, absolutely fucking not!"** Harry screamed out, their wand pointed straight as Tom with a snarl on their face.

Tom merely held his arms behind his back. Albus stood at their side, his place not to defend the man.

He knew Harry held much contempt for Tom Riddle, and knew that Harry must vent his hatred before they could proceed.

Even though Voldemort never formed in this world, Tom still wore the face of the man Harry hated, which was enough.

"Might I remind you, I am not the man that took everything from you, as the Renegade already said." Tom pointed out, his wand still tucked away. He knew that they couldn't work together if they killed each other, and he needed that treasure trove.

He still had college loans to pay off…

"That may be true, but I really need to kill something." Harry snarled, their wand glowing a sickly green… only to take a deep breathe.

Albus just smiled, as he knew that they were set.

"Say I let you live, you've agreed to fight the storm with us?" Harry asked, almost sure that he had, considering that Albus even brought him before them.

They were sure that Albus would have killed the man if he disagreed.

"Of course, and might I say, it is quite something to be working with the actual Master of Death." Tom said with something akin to reverence in his voice, only for Harry to groan in anger.

"I keep being called that, but I've never gotten anything for it. Hell, I don't even control him, more of the opposite really…" Harry muttered, his eyes drifting as he ordered some sort of food off the menu. Joyce simply ignored the three cloaked figures in her diner, considering that she had gotten many strange customers in her diner since the week's beginning.

She'd gotten used to weirdos, as long as they paid.

"Yes, I've heard of our mutual enemy… Is it truly Death?" Tom asked them, his curiosity re-emerging as he sipped from the god awful drink the muggle woman had given him, coffee or some such confection.

"Yes, or some dark god masquerading as it. This is my fifty-eighth life, and I'm still not sure really." Harry said with a shrug, as they truly didn't know about their patron's identity.

**"Good. I've got a debt to settle."**

* * *

**As one**, the three of us split up across the town, enacting measures I had created in the event of armageddon.

Drawing runes across the town, activating natural barriers and refueling the protection Albus and I had cast against the sky, and overall furthering the magical defenses we'd created.

I'm still not confident we were going to survive the night, but at least we wouldn't die with regrets.

I still didn't trust Tom, considering the last time I had seen Tom Riddle, he had killed my friends… but as Albus kept reminding me, this was a Tom Riddle who had never become Voldemort, never killed my parents… because I didn't exist in this world.

There was no Harry Potter in this world, and furthermore, no Potters.

Aside from that existential crisis, I made good time activating the paranoid defenses I had set, and locking the town within a dome construct.

Yes, I was locking everyone in the town inside, but it was the most effective means of protecting the town.

With a magical, and psychical protection on the town, I had almost completely ensured the town would survive… but I wasn't sure if it's people would…

We played this ridiculous game that was basically us flipping on magical light switches, until I froze in place. The sun was setting…

I took a breathe and shot a burst of red sparks into the sky above the town, knowing that they would see it.

It was time to meet, as the time came that we had agreed on…

**Time for us to meet our fates…**

* * *

**The sky burned red.**

For what seemed to be the millionth time, Albus and I stood on the edge of the bay, but rather than the shore, we stood upon it's cliff.

The lighthouse to our right, we overlooked the bay, in the exact place that my visions had showed me.

The tornado, the damn ominous thing that it was, loomed in the distance… growing ever closer to us, the wind slashing at us as the disaster approached…

As the literal end of days came closer, I checked my watch in what must have been an anticlimactic manner.

**7:43**

I let out a huff, as for once, I was almost in a hurry to die.

We couldn't do a damn thing to stop anything, if the storm wasn't even here yet.

I looked over us, three old relics of another age, drafted together to prevent the end of this entire world.

Of course, if they were relics, I was an ancient myth…

I might as well have been, considering I was almost inhuman… a force of nature as unnatural as resurrection, being forced into lives so far from where I had come, my spirit prolonging so long after my time…

It was ironic, that I now worked with Tom Riddle, considering I now lived the immortality that he had longed for in my world.

If only he had known what it would entail… perhaps Voldemort would have never existed, in any world…

Would I still be cursed like this, if Voldemort had never killed anyone?

That was a thought for another time, as my attention was brought back to the storm, that which was now blowing the sea breeze onto the land.

"If you have anything left to say my friends, I believe this would be the time." Albus said with a grim smile, his eyes trailing down his spiraled wand, one that I had only seen Albus use in a life akin to my first, long before it…

A wand aside from the damned one of Death's design…

"This isn't the first time I've died with you Albus, but never have I imagined dying with Tom Riddle on my side." I said truthfully, my arms flying backwards to rest my head, my eyes gazing over the dark sky.

While sheer horror had consumed the world, there was a sick beauty to it all.

There always was in my deaths, a perverse enjoyment in the end of my lives, a sense only earned through immortality.

I smiled.

"You two are completely insane." Tom said with a breathe, his eyes closing as the pulsing winds tried to pull us over the cliff-side, our forms resisting Death's grip.

"Not really." I said with a aloof chuckle, only to freeze in my place, a pain splitting my focus in half.

Darkness began to consume my sight, as exhaustion began to fill my mind.

I fell then, my body falling over the cliffside, my mind falling into a void.

**I was really getting sick of dying…**

* * *

**"Where… where am I?"** I wondered aloud, as the darkness retreated from my sight.

I laid on a stone floor, I knew that much, as I felt a familiar warmth in my chest.

I pulled myself to my feet, ignoring the voice inside my head that said I should be dead, and looked around.

I stood in a void, torn apart buildings and places, all thrown together in an amalgam of places I had known in my lives.

In the distance stood a skyscraper, one so very familiar, but lost from my memory, a castle standing behind it.

So many things I didn't recognize, but I knew the place that I stood now.

I stood on a stone platform that floated in the dark abyss, my feet bare on the harsh stone.

A part of me almost expected to be myself, the green eyed boy that once saved the wizarding world, but looking down revealed myself still to be the hipster of Blackwell Academy.

Looking up, however, told me just where I am was in this strange combination of places I knew.

Candles floated above my head, casting an odd red light down on me, the light so familiar.

"Is this… Hogwarts?" I muttered out, only to be thrown backwards as stones and scattered wood all flew through the darkness to recreate the Great Hall of Hogwarts, just as it looked in my childhood…

This was some weird realm of my memories, that just confirmed it.

Ignoring the thrum of power echoing through this place, and the pain shooting through my joints, I pulled myself up from the floor, my eyes locked on the large doors leading out into Hogwarts proper.

Bracing myself, I pushed through the doors… and stepped onto a filthy city street.

Looking behind myself, the large doors were gone, and now I stood alone in the alleyway, the darkness once more surrounding me.

I brushed my hands clean of imaginary filth, and began to walk through the filth, the sensation of what felt like glass under my feet.

I knew this place… Gotham.

It had to be, but my time there was long gone, so I brushed aside my memories, and approached a large building at the edge of the street.

This place held some relevance to me, but I couldn't remember why…

Taking another breath, I stepped through the front door, and fell forward through what felt like water.

My lungs burned as I felt my body break apart into burning agony, my eyes watering as it all came crashing down.

**I'm really getting sick of this.**

* * *

**"Harry! Get back from the edge!"** Albus screamed out as he grabbed his young friend, pulling them back from the edge of the cliff.

Harry just collapsed in his arms however, the light completely absent from their eyes.

"Albus, what the hell is going on!" Tom yelled through the wind of the storm, their ears deafened from the harshness of the piercing gales.

Albus didn't have an answer as he dragged Harry's unconscious body from the cliffside, the tornado heading ever closer, the winds almost mocking them as their doom moved to cut them off.

"I have an idea, but I dare not say it…" Albus muttered, his fear settling in as a grim look came across his face.

The unfairness of this all enraged him, as he knew Death had played his hand in this horrible game.

However, Albus had an ace up his sleeve, as it were.

**"You can do it Harry, I know you can."**

* * *

**"Would you like to know your purpose?"**

I knew that voice… it was a voice that I had heard oh so long ago, and never from the outside…

That was my voice…

I was on my back, my wounded head against the wet floor of a place I remembered not so fondly.

I was in the Chamber of Secrets.

"I asked, would you like to know?" That voice, the voice of the man I used to be, asked me again as I came to focus in the chamber.

In the same place that young Tom Riddle, his diary projection at least, once stood, was Harry James Potter.

There was me, the same as I looked in my second year, my old familiar emerald eyes looking upon me with fiery intensity.

I wonder if I looked like that when I killed the Basilisk…

"How…?" I asked in a whisper, my lungs aching as if I was still under water, the familiar feeling of drowning burning through me, even though I breathed stale air in the chamber.

My impostor merely laughed at me, this cruel and mocking sound that I don't remember ever making, as his eyes looked down upon me from my position on the floor.

I tried to stand, yet my body felt an exhaustion that I had never known.

I tried with all my effort to try and stand, yet I could only manage a weary crouch, my eyes burning with tired determination.

"Simple. I'm what you could be if you simply accepted your role. You haven't considered it, have you?" The other me asked, his feet circling around me as he looked over the sad, pathetic mess I must have been. I was almost sure that my ribs were all broken, judging by the hollow feeling in my chest.

I spit up a putrid glob of blood then, my teeth aching as I struggled to breath.

"You're… you're detachment… You're me if I gave up my emotions… aren't you?" I asked through the pain, my eyes clearing as I recognized the emptiness of his eyes. I knew that look, as I had once wore it on my own face.

I had struggled with nihilism before, but this fraud had let it swallow him up, had let the darkness in.

I growled, my right hand pushing my chest up as I finally managed to pull myself together.

"Impressive… you're almost broken, and yet you're still so philosophical… It says a lot about you, I must say." My doppelganger said to me, clapping his hands in congratulation. I just snarled at him as I pushed him away from me.

He just slapped my shaking hands aside, laughing at my failure to master any strength aside from just standing.

"I must say, your determination is admirable, yet I have seen your heart, and it is mine." He chuckled then, his eyes, the ones that used to belong to me, now burning a bright red.

This impostor was starting to piss me off something fierce…

"There's where you're wrong pal…" I said with a chuckle of my own, Max Caulfield's blue eyes melting away into my original emerald depths, my body straightening as I found some superhuman strength flooding my body.

My impostor stepped back then, a look akin to fear appearing in his eyes.

I smiled.

"You see, you say you know me, but Harry Potter died a very long time ago… and his heart even longer than that." I said with a twisted grin, a light beginning to burn in my chest, the dour chamber filling with an almost holy divinity.

"Impossible… I foresaw-" The shadow of who I could have been spluttered out, his body pressed against the statue of Slytherin, his eyes wide as I punched my hand clean through his chest, ripping free an orb of light not too different from a prophecy orb.

"You can keep your purpose, I know mine already." I said with a grin, feeling stronger than I had in ages.

I knew what laid ahead of me now, and I accepted it.

Harry Potter may be dead, but that didn't matter.

**I was here now.**

* * *

**A light appeared before my eyes.**

I stood in a world of light, simple wooden planks rested under my feet, a path appearing before me, leading upwards and out.

Taking a breath, I began to walk in this realm I now found myself, having a distinct feeling that I knew where this path would lead.

I saw flashes then, appearing before my eyes in an assault, images of lives lived and worlds lost, the people I knew and those that I killed.

Places, loves, and death all filled my sight as I continued this airward walk, a rising tension forming in my chest as I breathed clearer than I had in years.

It was when there remained no further steps to take, that I took in a familiar sight.

A train station, one I had seen only in my dreams, stood before me.

King's Crossing, but not as it was, but as it had been inside my mind.

This was the Spectral Station, the land between life and death. Limbo, for lack of a better term.

And as I stepped forward, I heard the soft sound of a train pulling closer, a tunnel appearing at the edge of the station, a blinding light resting at the end of it.

I knew why I was here, but I wondered who was here this time…

Walking forward, I saw a bench appear from nothing, the same bench I had sat on once before.

I did as I had before, and sat down, taking a breathe as I did.

"So… who's the next ghost of my past?" I asked aloud, knowing that it couldn't be Dumbledore again, considering I had gotten to know a new Dumbledore, and had long gotten over the loss of my own.

"Now, I wouldn't consider myself a ghost, but you can call me what you like pup." A light heartened voice joked, as a familiar presence sat down beside me.

I didn't even need to look to know who it was, but I didn't believe it.

This had to be a trick… though Death had stated he could affect those that I once knew, but this had to be a trick of some sort.

"Hello Sirius." I said in a dull tone, leaning back on the bench, as I waited for the offer that I knew was coming.

"Hello Harry." My godfather, Sirius Orion Black, or at least a man fitting his appearance, said to me with a smile as he rested against me.

It was then, that I realized I had been reverted back to my original appearance, unruly black hair and all.

If this was Death's best, then he's disappointed me.

"I assume this is the point where you say that I should go with you, finally give up and go to Heaven or someplace similar to be with all of you?" I asked him, a sad smile forming on my face. I knew I wouldn't be released so easily.

Death still had a use for his favorite toy, and that meant he wouldn't give me up.

He just wanted me to stop fighting.

"No, I believe this is the point where I say I'm proud of you and tell you to go and see this mess to the end." Sirius said with a bark of a laugh, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder as I looked to him with surprise.

I… hadn't seen that coming.

"Really?"

"Of course Harry, I love you kiddo, but you still have a lot to do before you get to be lazy with the rest of us." He said warmly, as the white train pulled into the station, its whistle echoing like the bell of a forgotten tower.

I reached for him, only for my hand to phase right through Sirius, like he wasn't even there…

"Well Pup, there's my ride. You be good now, alright?" He asked me with a sincere look, bringing a tear to my eyes.

He smiled then, and stood from the bench, walking towards the train, its door flying open for him.

I expected him to step on, but then he turned back to me, and gave me one last piece of information.

That which would keep me going forever if I had to.

**"She's waiting for you."**

* * *

**I awoke a final time,** and heard the storm before I saw it.

I opened my eyes to see the ruins of the lighthouse around me, the unconscious and bloodied bodies of Albus and Tom around me, Tom's arms around me.

I knew what happened just from seeing the ruins.

They saved me, and Tom sheltered me from the storm.

I was thankful at least, that they hadn't sacrificed themselves in saving my useless body, just so I could do what I must.

I had gotten spoiled then, in my final vision, as now my body felt the full brunt of what I had gone through.

Just as my vision of the storm had given me, I felt my ribs in their pulverized state, my lungs strain to simply keep me alive, and my heart beat like the battered engine of Chloe's truck.

I was almost dead, but I wasn't quite yet…

Shaking myself free of Tom's protective grasp, I pulled myself to a weakened stance, walking slowly out of the lighthouse, and watching the full destruction of the storm.

The sky burned with the fires of Hell, lightning striking the innocent Earth and burning the plant life in an unbiased manner, while the primary enforcer of Death's will continued its rampage.

The tornado now glowed with a Dark energy, the darkness of Death, and now flowed freely over the beach, its power trying to pull me from the ground and into the air.

I stood strong against the storm, and limped down the hill, coming to stand mere feet away from the tornado, and simply looked up to the sky.

"I know." I said in a whisper, my anger and rage disappearing like a drop of blood in the ocean, and watched in awe as the tornado stopped in its tracks.

The storm paused, as I knew Death was listening.

And I spoke.

"You wanted to teach me… that I can't control everything… This storm… it was going to happen anyway, with or without me, right?" I asked the darkness, blood beginning to fill me mouth as I felt my shattered ribs cut into my lungs.

I was dying, no matter what I did here.

So, I did the right thing.

"I… I tried to change things… to forge my own destiny in this world… but there isn't room for me here… is there?" I questioned Death, watching as the red began to fade from the skies, a dull grey replacing it as the tides began to calm.

I knew what was happening, and I accepted it.

"This… this was a lesson… wasn't it? This wasn't my life to live… was it? You put me here… to learn that I'm mortal… no matter my curse… right?" I muttered, my sight blurring as I fell to my knees, the metallic taste of my own blood sickening me, but I kept going despite it all.

I wondered to myself, what this all would have been like, if I hadn't replaced Max… if she had lived her life as she chose to… Would she have succeeded where I failed, or would she have failed where I didn't?

Would there still have been a storm?

I would never know, so I focused on my own struggle, that to understand.

"You're… trying to show me… that I should be humble… and wise… I understand…" I gurgled out, trying to breath as my senses began to leave me.

I marveled as the storm began to dissipate, the moon beginning to shine behind the fearsome clouds, a cool light falling upon me.

It was a beautiful sight, but not the one I most wanted.

What remained of the tornado quaked then, reminding me of where I knelt, and I took another deep breath, as I began what would be the end of this life.

I tried to stand once more, only to fall onto my side, the harsh ground meeting my face, as I saw him there…

Death stood before me, his skeletal face shaped in a look of sympathy, his shadowy robes flowing in the breeze, the storm standing behind him as a echo of his power.

I struggled to keep my eyes open, as I made a single request, one for this world.

For Albus.

For Kate.

Hell, even for Tom.

They didn't deserve to go down with me…

"Leave… them."

And to my happiness, he did… and then I felt it. The pull, the tether… pulling me from this world, and onto the next.

Despite the uselessness of my efforts, the hope to live in peace… the desire for more… I accepted this, and let go of all my ties.

Hopefully…** they'd let me go as well.**


	7. Principium Novum

**Life 58: Strange Tidings**

* * *

**Arcadia Bay had been ravaged.**

The sun fell upon a town that had felt the worst of nature's wrath, a storm so fierce that mercy had seemed a foreign concept, and yet… the town had been saved from destruction by some grace of God, its people living to see another day as the bay itself lay empty and desolate, the ground itself torn asunder by the power of pure creation, the town's livelihood forever decimated.

And yet… Arcadia Bay's citizens couldn't care less.

Their lives were still there, their children still lived, and they had finally been given the chance to rebuild.

For this small, aged town to be given a new breath of life.

To change, and become better.

**They would not waste this chance.**

* * *

**(October 14th, 2013)**

* * *

**"Following the destruction of Arcadia's Bay port, not everything seems so grim."** A newscaster announced over the television, the patrons of the diner giving it no attention, for they already knew what had happened, the news barely worth hearing.

"Following the incapacitation of his father, Nathan Prescott (19) has returned to Arcadia Bay to continue his family's business. Prescott, formerly thought to have been killed or worse, had this to say." The anchor said promptly, the camera then cutting away.

Nathan Prescott, the once drug dealing bully of Blackwell Academy, now stood straight and tall. His hair was carefully cut short, a black suit on his frame as he stood still, his face in a look of sad contemplation.

"Hello, my fellow citizens of Arcadia Bay. Many of you know me, either from my actions or that of my family, but I am not the man I was, not even a month ago. Despite rumors, I was not kidnapped or killed, rather I was getting the help that I desperately needed. At the insistence of a dear friend, I took the time that I needed, and have emerged a better person…" The last Prescott said slowly, melancholy in his voice as he seemed to stare off into nothingness.

**"Thank you Max..."**

* * *

**"I swear I'm fine Price!"** An exhausted girl complained to her more-than Best friend, the two of them standing inside the living room of their new, slightly shitty apartment.

After being reunited, the two had taken next to no time to make up for what they had lost, and now had gone off together to make their old dream a reality.

Well, as much of a reality they could considering both of them were broke as could be, Los Angeles being traded for the lazy sunlit afternoons of Augustine Springs.

The town wasn't the best, but they were together.

"I lost you once, not going to happen again Rachel." Chloe Price said in a sing song voice as she pulled on her coat, the two arguing as Rachel had tried to convince her love that she was responsible enough to go to the store on her own, not needing an escort to go everywhere.

Rachel Amber just sighed, as she understood the concern for her safety, but it had been almost a week of her being completely fine, so she thought she was owed a little bit of alone time, no matter how much she loved being together.

They had been trying to move on with their lives, despite the sadness that still filled them, but least they had each other.

"You're a clingy fuck Chloe."

**"I know."**

* * *

**"Unless the Defense has anything else to add, I propose this session go into recess to allow the Jury time to reach a verdict."** The judge said strongly and firmly, letting the group rest as the jurymen filed out of the courtroom, the case frozen as the defense and prosecution merely stared at each other in a form of rivalry.

"You know you won't win this trial Albus, I've done my research far too well." A well dressed man said with ease and confidence, his defendant completely forgotten as the two lawyers stared at each other, the entire situation no more than a game to them.

They were above all of this of course, but their professions were a hobby at best.

A means to pass the time, and to move on.

"Oh, I would disagree with you there Tom." The older man, Albus Dumbledore, said with a chuckle, his eyes growing hot then, a grin on his face showing how much he was enjoying this. "This case is as clear as can be, how the Jury is taking this long to see your client is a piece of dragon dung is beyond me."

Tom chuckled then, much to the confusion of his client, who stared at the men as if in fear, his freedom on the line as the men argued like old rivals, an odd friendship clear to see.

"Oh I agree, but this face of mine is oh so easy to trust, I'm sure we're both aware." Tom Riddle said quickly, both of them laughing at the irony. It was more than true.

While the two bickered and argued, a somber thought kept coming to their minds, a silence coming over them at the same time, a cold growing over the room.

"You're going too, right?" Tom asked his old friend, a sadness filling their veins as the two thought about what so many people had tried not to, the pain still too fresh.

"How could I not? We failed him Thomas, in ways only we can ever know, we own him that much." Albus said without any room to argue.

They would return to Arcadia Bay, and there wasn't a chance they'd miss it…

**It was their duty to see this through to the end.**

* * *

**"Katie, you can't just stay in here all day…"** Richard Marsh said in a mournful voice, stepping into the room of his eldest daughter, the room as dark as her mood likely was.

Kate had come home earlier that month for support after that sick bastard Jefferson had been arrested, her family supporting her in such a terrible time, and had stayed after what had happened not long after…

Kate Marsh just laid down in the dark, her bed molded around her body as she rested, a soft song playing in the background, a no doubt comfort in the dark.

Kate barely made any sign that she even noticed he was there, aside from her answer.

"I'm fine daddy…" She whispered out, her eyes glazed over as she barely moved, leaving him to sigh as he took a seat on her bed.

He just placed a hand on her back, the two resting there as the lull of the music washed over them.

"No you're not." He argued peacefully, not a single trace of anger in his voice or on his face.

He merely knew she was lying to herself.

She didn't bother arguing with him.

"When was the last time you left your room Katie?" He asked her, his darling daughter still as a statue, his concern growing in waves as he watched her dull eyes look at him.

"I don't need to…"

Richard just kept silent then, wondering over how best to help her… only to think of one thing that could help… no matter how painful it would be.

"Do you think Max would want you to be like this?" He asked her quickly and soundly, knowing the reaction he would get, but at least it would be one.

"You didn't know her, so how dare you!?" His normally so sweet daughter snarled at him, a venom in her voice he had never even dreamed of hearing bursting out, a rage he had never seen coming over her as it filled the room to a boiling point.

He just nodded.

"I know, but I also know she was your best friend, and that she would have never wanted to see you like this." He argued, knowing that the caring person Max Caulfield had been would never have wished such sadness on her closest friend.

"She was so much more…" Kate muttered softly, her anger dying as quickly as it had burned, her body falling back to the bed, as still as it had been once before.

Richard took a breathe then, and continued on as he knew that only he could get her through this.

"I know that too."

Kate looked at him then, perhaps in surprise, perhaps in fear.

He didn't know, but he just let a small smile drift onto his face.

"You know…?" She asked him, her voice so frail and weak that he wished he could hold her and tell her that everything would be alright, but he knew he couldn't just yet.

"I've known for a while Katie, and I'm happy she was there for you."

And that was all he had to say, the girl rising then, her arms flying around him as he just sat there, his heartbroken daughter crying her heart out in his arms.

He knew she needed support, in as harsh a time it was, and with the coming days even more…

And he would give her all she needed… as much as he could.

The two just sat there, sadness and regrets expressed as the sun began to rise outside the home, a beautiful pink shining in the skyline.

And throughout this all, a single envelope sat alone in Kate's bag, left unopened and unread.

She couldn't handle it, but perhaps she would eventually.

All that mattered, was that the world hadn't ended, no matter how much it felt like it to Kate Marsh.

**The sun still rose.**

* * *

**A couple stood together,** a student's doomroom around them.

Gentle colors melded together in the room, a mellow feeling breathing life into the room, no matter how empty it felt.

Most of the room was surprisingly barren, aside from the occasional item here or there, but the main focus lay on a wall of the room.

Painting filled this wall, all depicting places, people, or events that they didn't know all too much about.

One held an aged castle, a wall of it broken as figures and green lights poured into it, a likely assault ruining the age old structure, a striking moon hanging behind it all, its rays not daring to fall upon the fallen stronghold.

The next portrait hung there, begging for attention. A boy floating in an endless abyss, his eyes closed as wisps of light trailed past him, all reaching their little hands for him yet none of them reaching.

Their attention quickly moved then to the final painting, but their eyes quickly met each other in a sign of mutual grief.

"She really changed…" Ryan Caulfield sadly remarked to his wife, the two of them having come here to learn more about their daughter and her final days, having lost connection with her earlier that month… and for the last time.

They had been confused and heartbroken, and had tried so very hard to understand, eventually coming to the conclusion that they had to be there.

They spoke to her teachers, and to her classmates, and had learned of the one person they most needed to speak to… had just closed herself up.

So they went to Max's room, trying to make sense of how everything had gone so wrong.

The fact that no one understood what happened to her made it all so much worse…

From what people could tell, when the damned store had struck the town, Max had just walked into it, her body being found by the devastated beach, broken and alone.

No one had known what to do, and so silence had fallen over the town for days, few even talking about her loss.

The pain was clear enough to see.

While she hadn't been very social, people still knew her, and after the mess with Jefferson, and her role in exposing him, people all across America knew her name.

And the country grieved for the loss of such a remarkable person.

"She did." Vanessa, his wife, said softly, the two looking over Max's paintings.

They had been surprised that she had traded photography for painting, but imagined that learning your photography teacher was a monster could turn anyway off the subject.

Her skill surprised them though, as pure emotion screamed out from her paintings, especially the final one.

Two girls floated together above the ground, a horrific storm raging behind them.

The first girl was obviously their daughter, her face morphed into an expression of almost depression, her face fallen in grief.

Behind her trailed a large shadow, the extent of it stretching off behind her, almost like a chain holding her bound.

They didn't understand, but then they looked to the other side.

The other girl was the one everyone had pointed them towards, Kate Marsh, Max's best friend.

The girl looked peaceful, almost as if asleep, as she floated there in the storm, angelic wings flying behind her back.

The two presented an odd balance in the midst of disaster, a fitting tranquility to tragedy.

They had no words for the beauty of the piece, nor for the sadness they felt from looking at it.

They had missed the heartache their daughter must have faced, and had ignored what must have been going on with her.

They had failed so very badly, and now they stood in the aftermath.

**Nothing could be said.**

* * *

**Kate wore white.**

She knew that black was meant to be wore while grieving the loss of a life, but she knew Max wouldn't have wanted her to grieve her.

She'd want her to remember her, and she did.

Her funeral, furloughed as it was, began in mere hours. Kate still couldn't believe she was gone, the last time she had seen her was when they confessed their love to each other… and now it was all gone.

She was gone.

Kate had dreamt of their future, of the life they could have had, together… and had woken up to a nightmare worse than any she could have imagined…

This hadn't been a dream… it was reality as she knew it, forced upon her like the worse pill she could ever swallow…

So she continued to dream of Max, to think of her, not of what they lost, but what they had for so short of a time.

Less than a week, that was how long they had held each other, but it had been the best time of her life, no matter the hardships they had faced together.

No matter the indecision and strife, Max had been there for her in ways no one ever had before, cradling her heart like it was the most delicate and precious gem.

A diamond in the darkness.

Dressed in a simple white dress, the one she had childishly considered wearing to her one day wedding, she sat in her room thinking of Max.

Her mind remembering the curves of her body, the gentleness of her face, and her eyes.

She missed her, no more could be said… until her eyes drifted then to her bag, a hidden treasure buried inside it…

A golden letter Max had left to her, her beautiful handwriting on the front of it, words that she didn't truly understand written on it… but she knew that Max had meant something from them…

"I Open at the Close"

What did she mean by that?

That was the question that had haunted Kate since that awful Friday, wondering over what she was meant to understand from those simple words… until she finally understood.

Close didn't just mean to close something… The close meant the end…

I open at the end.

"Max knew she was going to die… and left this for me…" Kate realized, having pulled the envelope free of her bags, the bag thrown and forgotten as she focused on the elegant letters scrawled on the beautiful gold, the emotion almost flowing from the paper.

Brushing aside her worries and grief, she took a breath, and broke the seal clean.

And pulled the letter free from it's bindings.

**"Dear Kate."**

* * *

**The ceremony had begun at noon,** the sun settling in the sky as they all gathered in the cemetery, not just those closest to Max either.

People had flown or driven into Arcadia Bay from all over, so many people coming from so far to see Maxine Caulfield off, the girl that had set so many worries and sore hearts to rest, the girl that had closed so many books in the minds of so many.

Kate stood at the front of the procession, Max's parents at her side, her own family right behind her.

Kate didn't know many of the people that had come, besides a few of their classmates.

She recognized two girls standing at the back of the crowd, the two dressed in gray and black, holding each other as one struggled not to cry.

Even if Kate hadn't seen them before, she knew who the blue hair belonged to.

Even though they couldn't see her, she gave them a soft nod as she looked back at the coffin, the one she knew held Max in a tomb of care.

She thought she had seen Nathan Prescott somewhere in the crowd, but even though he had changed, she still remembered his cruel words…

Kate had desperately not wanted to be here, not wanted to accept that any of this was real… but she knew she would always have regretted it if she hadn't been here.

So she had.

She, the one light in the darkness, not speaking, merely listening.

As the preacher began to speak, thanking them all for coming, and beginning a speech she had never wanted to hear.

She had never wanted to accept any of this, but she did.

And she began to cry, a letter crumpled up in her hand, as she let it all go.

But never Max, she wouldn't let her go, no matter how much it hurt her.

She wouldn't let her go, but she would let the sadness go, and always remember her as she had been.

As they had been.

After they had all gotten ready to leave, the ceremony long over and finished, Kate had still stood there, her eyes frozen… until a voice spoke from beside her, one she was unfamiliar with.

"She loved you, you know?"

Kate turned then, to see an elderly man, a man she honestly thought was the oldest man she had ever seen, yet he held a warm and welcoming look in his eyes as he walked up beside her.

"Who... who are you?" Kate asked in a whisper, wondering who this almost mythical man was, a man she had never seen before.

He stood before her now, his eyes sad yet calm, a faint twinkle present in them as he looked to Kate, a small smile on his face.

"Albus Dumbledore, I was an old friend of Max, she was once a student of mine." The man, Dumbledore, said with sorrow clear to see in his face, a hand coming to rest on Max's tombstone, the earth still fresh.

Kate nodded then, before the man's comment came back to her.

"How… how do you know that?" Kate asked him, confusion coming to her eyes as she looked at him, wondering why Max had never mentioned him. "Why have I never heard of you?"

He looked at her then before smiling that same, sad smile.

"For a long time, Max thought I was dead, long gone, until she found out I was still alive recently. I came to Arcadia Bay, and the two of us spoke about everything that had happened. She wanted my support." He answered quietly, a tear coming to his eye as he looked down at the grave, the words on it standing clear, the engravement one that Max had actually requested via writing, to the confusion of so many others.

**Maxine Jennifer Caulfield**

**Sep 21, 1995-Oct 11, 2013**

**The Last Enemy to be Defeated is Death Itself**

"She knew… didn't she?" Kate asked him, his presence oddly comforting as she walked closer, her eyes avoiding the stone at any cost.

"She did. She saved all of you, and yet so few people actually will know that." Dumbledore said tenderly, his blue eyes now looking out beyond the cemetery, his eyes looking out at the horizon, the sunset meeting his gaze head on.

Kate didn't know what he meant then, but she remembered the letter, and just nodded, her doubts still there, but brushed aside.

"But she did it for all of us, but for the most part, she did it for you Ms. Marsh." He said then, as sure as he could be, and looked to Kate then, that damningly sad smile once more gracing his face, as he held out something for her then.

She took it from him, only realizing what it was when she held it.

It was a silver pin, a hollow triangle, a single line running down the center of it.

Max's pin.

She held it tightly then, ignoring the point of it as she just held onto a part of Max, no matter how removed it was.

It was something.

"Thank you." She said to him, meaning it more than she had ever meant anything, aside from returning Max's confession.

That had meant everything to her.

"No my dear, thank you." He said to her, his smile changing then, a look of gratefulness rising in him, until the smile he gave her was happy and genuine.

With a nod and a smile, the strange man, Albus Dumbledore, turned around and began to walk out of the cemetery.

She watched him go, only to look back at the tombstone, memorizing the words of it to her memory, as she began to walk from the yard.

She knew her family was waiting for her.

**She didn't keep them waiting.**

* * *

_**Dear Kate**_

_I never wanted to have to write a letter like this to you, but the time has come for me._

_A storm has come for Arcadia Bay, and I'm not talking metaphorically._

_There are too many things I should have told you, explained to you, but I always knew I wouldn't have enough time, but I had hoped I would._

_This storm Kate… it's worse than anything the world has seen before… and I'm the only one that can stop it._

_I have to stop it, as it is my responsibility…_

_If I walk away from this, run away with you or something else that I so desperately desire, I wouldn't be who I am._

_I would be betraying everything I have stood for, for years._

_I can't do that, no matter how much I want to lay with you on some far off beach, the sun resting on us day after day._

_But that's a dream I can't afford._

_By the time you wake up Kate, it's already going to be over._

_The storm will be gone, and so will I._

_I know this is all going to hurt you Kate, maybe even destroy you, but I never wanted to do anything like that to you._

_I love you Kate, more than you could ever understand, because you saved me from something far worse than a storm._

_You saved me from myself, and I will always be grateful for that._

_You are the angel I needed, the one that saved me from a demon worse than any hellfire could create._

_I hope, I pray, that the death of an idiot like me doesn't hurt you too much, and instead gives you the chance I prayed it would._

_I hope you find the peace to be yourself, free of others trying to stop you, and finally get to be the beautiful person I know you really are._

_Be the girl I know you are inside, and nothing will ever stop you Kate._

_I know with all my soul that you can do it._

_Just as I do this for you, please do that for me._

_I will always love you Katie._

**_-Max_**

* * *

**The storm was gone and long forgotten,** Arcadia Bay had moved on from the horror and strife that had afflicted it, but had grown in the darkness that had ravaged it, learning from the past and emerging brighter from the shadows.

The town became so much more than it had, and it's people so much greater than they ever dreamed.

And all… because of a storm.

**How strange.**

* * *

**"Why am I still here?"** The entity that once went by the name of Harry Potter asked of the darkness around it, the realm of Death always familiar.

He had been torn from his last life, fully accepting it as Death's grasp had taken ahold of him, cutting his strings free as he embraced the sensation he had felt every time he died, the cold splitting feeling of his soul being torn free and eventually being bathed into the hot light that came from the next life, the pain of being forced into another form.

And while the cold and pain had come, the splitting pain had ravaged and destroyed him so surely… but he hadn't felt the heat, the tenseness…

He floated in the darkness, still in the lanes between, another life still beyond him.

Death had kept him here.

"I thought I was done? Isn't this the point where you force me to take someone else's life? Start over again?" He asked of the emptiness, expecting Death's smug face to show itself and mock him for his emotions and reprimand him for not being a heartless pawn for Death's games.

But it didn't come, until he heard a piercing voice in his very soul.

**REALIZATION**

"Realization? What the hell are you talking about?" He asked him, his soul wandering the void, searching for an answer to whatever it was Death wanted of him, only to find himself drifting.

**INCENTIVE**

The word rung out in the dark, shaking him to his very core.

_"Incentive? What did he even mean?"_ Harry thought to himself, wondering what game Death was playing now.

"What are you talking about? I did as you asked already, I gave up. I'll let you do what you want. I don't care anymore…" He muttered out, depression beginning to settle in the wisp of light that served as his very soul, wondering how much he could endure until his light went out…

**SMALL COST**

"What?" He asked of Death, only to feel that familiar feeling of the tether latching onto him, squeezing his soul as he felt the damn process begin.

He took a nonexistent breath, as he readied himself for what crap his next life would be…

**Better to get it over with…**

* * *

**Life 59…**

* * *

**"Leonardo Da Vinci once said that where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. Does anyone have an idea what he was talking about?"** A feminine voice asked aloud, waking me from my sleep. I found myself inside a classroom, students seated all around me, all making notes on some form or another.

I yawned as I sat up, looking around my new surroundings, trying to figure out as much as I could about my new life.

Painting and portraits lined the walls, the furniture simple and functional, my gaze slowly drifting to the teacher.

She seemed like a nice enough lady, I supposed.

I tried to shake myself clear of the grogginess, only to be shocked to my very core, when the teacher called on a student, one that I hadn't noticed before… but should have.

They stood then, and I just sat back and stared at her…

The teacher turned and addressed them, a polite smile on her face.

**"Yes, Ms. Marsh, you had an answer?"**


	8. Incentive

**Life 59: Incentive**

"_In August of 2018, a journey began in an old fishing town in Oregon. Fate came to pass, and the storm raged._

_In February of 2019, the skies cleared and it all came to an end at a bittersweet summit, but the end was not true._

_For another life began in it's stead, similar but distinct. _

_Where the vortex calmed and all knew the joys of a brighter sky. _

_Now, two days and a year after the story was closed, a view into what was to come after._

_The life beyond the epilogue."_

* * *

**Have you ever seen someone,** perhaps an old friend, that you haven't seen in ages?

You look at their face, and it calls out to your memories, you see their eyes, the light in their pupils as you embrace the thought of them.

Likely, the first words you say to them are questions about how they've been, where they've gone, and assurances of how much you missed them.

However, I wasn't meeting an old friend, or seeing family again after ages apart.

I was looking at my face, not that of Maxine Caulfield, but my own face.

That damn hair, always so untamed, those emerald eyes so piercing that one would think you could see them burning in their sockets.

And that irredeemable grin of mine, the one that always surged forward when I saw someone I liked, or when I threw words with someone I hated.

It had been over a thousand years since I had seen this face, and it was from the outside at the time.

Now, I was back to my old self, basilisk scar and all. Phoenix tears still surging through my veins in a paradoxical concoction.

However, I was still here.

* * *

I had sacrificed myself to save Arcadia Bay and its people, Kate Marsh among them, and I was content to move onto wherever Death wanted me next.

I had learned my lesson, accepted the responsibility of being Death's Avatar, and all that entailed.

And yet… I was still here, waking up in a class at Blackwell Academy, taking classes with Nathan, Victoria, and the like.

It was almost like I had never been here in the first place, everything had been reset to square one, but it was all different.

It started when I looked into the history here, and found that Mark Jefferson had overdosed ages ago, and had never become a photographer in the first place.

Which set things apart in a grand way, considering my art class was shared with Chloe and Rachel, the two together in a way they had never gotten the chance to in my last life, true happiness in their eyes as they walked past me in the halls.

As well, Max Caulfield was her own person here, but in an twist of fate, she wasn't a Caulfield.

Instead, I had a hipster little sister who loved to get on my nerves, and wasn't that a shock as well…

My parents were alive, James and Lily Potter.

They were in Seattle, my father working at the same practice as Albus, but they were alive and well… I got to speak to my mother finally, and it wasn't just a trick of the damn Stone.

I had never thought I'd get to know them, but they were so much more human than the stories I had been told of them.

Once again however, the Magical world was fractured, still a series of tribes, but held in better relations.

While they were nowhere near the civilizations and ministries of my original life, they at least worked together on occasion, even if it was entirely greed motivated.

And… it was all perfect to be honest.

My family alive and well, my friends living their best lives, and me?

I was enjoying myself, considering this was supposed to be my reward, and my incentive to keep going.

But not everyone was here, Luna, Neville, Hermione… they all were gone still, their families having been wiped out centuries ago, just as it had been in the last life.

However, it wasn't that hard of a blow to be honest, not after so many lives without them.

I had moved on, in more ways than I imagined

"How's my beauty doing?" I asked with a warm grin on my face as Kate practically fell into my arms, the two of us meeting in the courtyard of the school after the sun had set.

Her smile was a bundle of stars to me, lighting up the dark as we began our walk to the parking lot, my reliable truck sitting comfortably in the distance.

"I'm doing well, but... I felt him kick." Kate said to me in a whisper then, her breath on my ear as I held her closer to me, the winter air beginning to nip away at us.

That had been another surprise, that not only was I living a normal life in this world, but that Kate and I were… together.

It was yet another thing I had gotten used to, from seeing my little sister sneaking out with Warren, the poor kid I had shut out when I was her, to Kate's pregnancy that had snuck up on us both.

It had been amazing, meeting her family, considering it was such a different circumstance this time around.

Rather than her sister catching us in bed, and having only met her father than text messages, it was nice being properly introduced.

Her father had been suspicious of my intentions at first, but over the years I had won his trust over, and eventually he even gave his blessing to us.

We were together.

* * *

Now, I found myself years after where my last life had ended, a little studio apartment shared between Kate and I, and the bridge of a new life being planned as we brought our time together at Blackwell to a close.

Her father had even taken the news well, which was a surprise considering I wouldn't have taken the news of a pregnancy at nineteen too well, but here we were with her family at our call.

I held a degree in Art now to match Kate's, and was debating whether or not to take up Principle Wells' offer to teach at the Academy, which Kate and I still debated.

She and I had spent many a night discussing our plans and ideas, and eventually we found ourselves employed and well. I had begun tutoring students at the academy, since it was proposed that it would help me get the experience I needed to teach, whereas Kate had been shocked that her cartoon pitch had been picked up, and she had actually been offered a job with the Disney channel.

Her dreams had been brought to life, and I couldn't help how much I loved to see her smile each and every day.

* * *

After graduating, Max had decided she wanted to travel the world, and Warren had merely said he wanted to go wherever she did, the two of them flying off to parts unknown together to document the world. My sister always had been impulsive, but she had found a man that only managed to bring out the best in her, her port in the storm.

Last I saw from her tweets, the two were in Taiwan working on her latest documentary, Warren as her archivist and assistant, my sister a reporter in her own right.

Warren had even asked me if it was alright to propose, which I could only advise him to take his time with. I had been inside Max's head after all, and I knew her ambitions were lofty.

Chloe and Rachel had traveled with them for a bit, but had moved to California to seek fame and fortune. Apparently they had made a promise to each other at some point to make their way there, and they had with a little help from yours truly to get Rachel an interview.

I had been worried for them when they left, but I had taken comfort in the fact they had each other. As well, considering we had gotten tickets to Rachel's latest show in Miami, I figured the two of them were doing well.

However, every time I saw them together, all I could think of was holding Rachel's skull in my hands, and the words of the ritual on my lips as I woke in the morning.

Death had made it clear, that as his Avatar I held many privileges and abilities, but I had crossed a line in bringing her back.

Despite my actions, he hadn't been vindictive, instead preventing the reason why she had died in the first place and more.

However, while feeling nostalgic, I had gone to the junkyard, and had found my feet going to where the shallow grave had rested, instead finding my old pin on the ground, placed right atop where she had been buried.

It was a warning not to do it again, and I accepted that.

It was not my place to bring the dead back to life, to subvert fate itself, but I could do my best to prevent that final jaunt through the jaws of death.

It was odd, as well, considering I had been restored fully to the man I had once been, but I felt my strength waning as I aged into this life, my magic sapping away from me in ways I couldn't have expected.

It had puzzled me for ages, wondering why I was growing weaker, my light dimming…. Until I saw Kate one day, swollen and overjoyed as she worked on a new sketch for the studio… and I saw her pencils floating above her head as she searched for them to no avail.

It appeared that I had forged a connection of sorts, and all I was had begun to bleed through, but I didn't mind it.

I had done much in this life, and others, and I didn't really need my magic to make a difference anymore.

However, I did have ideas in mind about the future. I had easily made a fortune in this world through manufacturing, even going into business with Nathan on several projects, who I was pleased to see suffered no issues in this world.

I had admitted to Kate the truth of who I was, and she had taken it pretty well, even calling me her Azrael in our private moments.

Her angel of Death, she would coo as we talked about the future and what it held for us and our son.

I had talked much with Albus, still the same old renegade as he had been before, but he had let me know that he regretted his years of isolation, and I told him I had an idea.

My father and I had flown out to Scotland the year before, finding a large plot of land in the Scottish wilds, and with a price not too outrageous, but now I felt a tremor through me.

Kate and I had discussed it, and she had even drawn up a crest of encouragement, and to my utter shock, it had been exact…

Godric's Lion, Rowena's Eagle, Helga's Badger, and Salazar's Serpent were reunited once more, and the construction had started in.

Of course, even through my work, I hadn't gotten the funds to build an entire castle, but I had managed to build a facility akin in size to Blackwood, and supervised it's construction.

Albus had even pulled out some surprises of his own, his wife Minerva pledging her services to my fledgling school just as he had, and onward it went as I was reintroduced to those I had known so very long ago, so different yet the same all together.

Thomas had even dragged his sorry bones back over, and I had met him for the second time, and even managed to convince him to teach defense, which was a weird scenario.

The Tom Riddle I had known had wanted nothing more than to teach, yet Thomas Riddle had demanded dental care as a concession.

Despite all that had gone on in my lives, all that had changed, I now found myself back where it all started, a magical school in Scotland, and a place to teach and learn.

And as my wife grew, I could only wait as my son was to come into the world, and I felt the past ache in ways that never bothered me before.

I had been here before, married with children on the way, my future all but set.

It had all come crashing down around me the last time I stood here, yet now I had to accept that it wasn't to be as I feared.

This was my gift, my… reward.

* * *

As I stood in the evenings, and watched Kate laugh at me and at my worry, I figured things could be a lot worse.

I wasn't going to worry anymore, nor would I let fear and paranoia consume me.

I had better things to focus on now, and I had people that needed me.

And to think, this all started with a naked girl fighting in the showers…

How things had changed… even despite how they had stayed so very much the same.

However, when do you know the journey has reached it's conclusion?

That you've reached the end of the road, seen the last of your trials pass you by?

When the curtains close one last time, and all you see is the audience.

And you see their faces, and they smile back at you, and all that's left to do is one last thing.

To take a bow, and turn off the lights.

For myself, Kate, Max, and so many others that had stood by me in this life and the last.

We had finally reached our end, the storm clearing as we saw the sun set on us one last time.

This really had been a strange life, but I wouldn't give it up for a single second.

**Fifty-nine was a good number.**

* * *

I can not express how much of a joy it was to write Strange Tidings. I have written many stories in this fandom and others, all different and unique, but this one was my favorite.

I don't know if it was the characters or merely the beauty of Arcadia Bay that made this just a pleasure to write, but I want to take a moment here.

Dontnod and Square Enix? Thank you for what you've done, the world wouldn't be the same without Max Caulfield and her friends.

Now, curtains have closed everyone, and the show is over.

Thank you for joining me along the way.

This has been Oscar, **have a good morning everyone.**


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